Justice League: No Fate
by The Sulkier Clown
Summary: The future is always in motion, reliant on the present. Knowledge of what may be could determine more than even life and death, especially when pried into the wrong hands. And especially when it foretells of coming destruction…Only the man from the future can stand in fate's way, but if he is to do so, he must sacrifice all life as he knew it. Forever…Part of #WonderBatMoments week
1. 0: A Time Above

**_A/N:_**

* * *

 ** _So...Here we are again folks! You may not have heard, but next week (2nd-6th July) has been decreed #WonderBatMilestones week by a higher power...namely LadyLiteration on the Twitters..._**

 ** _For the details, check out the hashtag, you'll find it there. Also on tumblr, but I'm still not a tumblrer(erer) so I can't guide you there. But I'm sure Google will be your friend. Might even get you a round in! And then lead you on the path to joining in the fun!_**

 ** _But before we hit the big one...Well, can't tell a story without any set up! And so, as my buddy Sforzy has been calling it, its time to raise the curtain._**

 ** _Day Zero has arrived..._**

* * *

 **0:** **A Time Above…**

Churring. The tiny creature hopped across the rooftop towards the edge, issuing its churring call across the city. It had gone stray, flown too far from its nest, and now was dazzled by the brightness and activity that stretched out before it. That had stretched to give it a perch far higher than it had ever been before. This was not the night it was used to gathering among.

The small bird's head twizzled in several jerking motions as it looked down at it all, churring away to itself all the while. Its search was for food, nesting material, anything of use to its tiny existence. But what it saw was metals, concretes and all manner of things it didn't understand.

Including the huge golden globe several rooftops away…That caught the birds eyes, its head poking forwards for a better look. At the same time, it splayed its wings sending a ripple through the air, as if preparing to take flight, to draw in and investigate further. The next second, the bird was gone. But it wasn't out of curiosity, not in the end.

It was fear.

The energy was weak at first, meaning it didn't harm the bird as the pulse lanced across the rooftop and through its tiny feet. But it was enough to startle it, to make it take flight. To make its base desire to flee erupt through its being. To soar off into the night. To leave that particular rooftop deserted and alone.

To escape the energy pulses as they began to grow.

They came one at a time, like miniature, fizzing lightning bolts, licking out of a sphere of fresh air. But they grew, one by one. Strands of energy bursting from nowhere. Strands which began to weave together into a circumference of light. Energy that built with a soft crackle of power until the centre of that rooftop was nothing but…

Until that energy then suddenly stopped. Until it was gone, as if it had never been there, only a calmness of the night left in its place.

The night, and the shadow that now stepped out from it. From the centre of where that energy had been. As if that energy and shadow had almost been one and the same…

The shadow that stepped forward along that rooftop, towards its edge. To look out across that city, towards that famous golden Planet adorning its skyline.

The shadow that then began to smile.

* * *

 _He sighed as he leant forwards against the railing, a cool chill to the dusk air. He faced out towards the city, but at the same time he didn't really see any of it, though nor was he trying to. The flying cars, glowing lights, the buzz of life in 25th century Metropolis. It was all so mundane._

 _There were still people about, but not enough to keep his interest, not when it was just the usual mob of tourists being shown around by the guides. Besides, they had the security droids to do the real work there. He was just some nobody this place paid minimum wage to keep a human feel about the place. No one wanted to feel like they were becoming obsolete._

 _A fact he knew all too well. Because that's how he'd felt almost every day since he lost his shot at the big time. Since he blew his chance at being a major athlete on the world stage. Ever since he'd gotten out of the big house, and found this dull, menial,_ forgettable _job was the only future he had left._

 _"Penny for 'em."_

 _The voice rang out from behind him, making him spin. There she was. The precise, female version of him, knowing smile plastered across her face._

 _"Hey, Shel," he grinned back at the sight of his sister standing there behind him. Sure, his life sucked these days. No fame, no money. Dead-end job that bored him senseless. Dad a long-gone sap who'd blown all their money. Yeah, things definitely sucked. But at least there was Michelle to occasionally brighten the days. "What brings you here?"_

 _"What, I can't swing by to say hi to my brother on my way home from work?" she shrugged. But then she held up a brown paper bag. "Besides. I brought doughnuts."_

 _"Well why didn't you say so!" And now he really smiled. Now he stepped forward right towards her and wrapped her in a hug. A hug that ended up with that paper bag now safely nestled in his hands. By the time he was pulling away, he already had one bite of sugar-coated bakery goodness safely taken, making his next words nothing but a mumbled mess. "Good-to-see-you-sis."_

 _"You slob!" she mockingly proclaimed, slapping him in the chest and making him smile again. "So come on…aren't you gonna show me around?"_

 _"What the Museum?" He was a little startled by the request. After all, this place was nothing new to her. "21st century superheroes are literally yesterday's news, Shel. You've been round this place lots of times."_

 _"Yeah, but if we just stand here and chat while you're meant to be on the clock, your bosses might start to get antsy. After everything that's happened, we all want you to keep your job. To stay on your feet. Because don't forget, the guys who run this place, they're keeping an eye on everything. Now come on. I want to hear all about how you're doing."_

 _Michelle gestured with her head as she said that last part, making him look over her shoulder. It wasn't hard to pick out what she meant. This place was always littered with security droids, but one more than any other was always sticking close by to him. He never liked to thought why, never liked to consider the possibility the bosses in this place stuck the droid with him, never liked to wonder if they decided to keep an eye on him because of his record for jail time. Besides, he'd come to like the little fella. That droid wasn't his warden, not to him. And – he thought – not to the droid. Not really. No, they were more like partners. That droid, Skeets, was maybe even the best friend he had._

 _Maybe his only friend… Yeah, his life certainly_ sucked _._

 _But regardless of his view on Skeets, Michelle had a point. Besides, while she was here, he may as well make the most of Michelle's company. That was why he was soon giving her the nod, holding up one arm to lead her in towards the displays. At least that might be another upside to this._

 _The age of heroes. It was something they'd both loved as kids. A time when superheroes were superstars. People doing remarkable things, risky life and limb for the good of others. And looking seriously cool while doing it. Now_ those _were the days. The good old days, you might call them. To have been one of those guys, one of those supers… Now that was the kind of fame and fortune he deserved. What he yearned for._

 _If only he could have been there. Been one of them. That would have been really something._

 _If only he could be the master of time… If only there was a way…_

 _If only this museum had a time sphere and all the gear he needed to make that actually happen._

If only.

* * *

The sound of clicking fingers. The sight of it too, once they broke his reverie enough to let him refocus. The here and now. This was where his head to be.

"You were back there again, weren't you?"

"Back where?" he answered a little too quickly, leaving Dr Simmons – _Tracy_ – to give him that knowing look. She could always read him. Right from day one, their little adventure with that black hole mishap, she'd been seeing the real him while even he couldn't. And in her… Well, he'd seen a genius who was also smoking hot. And he'd been seeing a whole lot of that ever since. And a lot of her.

"Don't act like I don't notice!" Tracy laughed as she slapped him playfully in the chest, just as his sister used to do. "You miss them. Don't you? The family. The people. The place you came from. The _time_ you came from. I see it. And the more you've stopped chasing the glory, the more I've seen it too…"

The more she spoke, the less humour was in her voice. There was almost a sadness, even. An empathy. And that made him start feeling it too. Because she also happened to be right.

A few years ago – or over four hundred years from now, depending on how you looked at it – he had broken in to the Museum exhibits, stolen the high-tech power suit and forced himself access to the prize exhibit. The fully functioning time sphere. Every bit of it illegal, even temporal law in the book broken, but he'd done it. He'd left the future – his present – to come back here. To become one of those 21st century heroes he'd so idolised. To chase the glories he'd always thought they'd had.

He hadn't cared that it was a one-way trip either. The device that sent him here, it wasn't something he'd been able to bring with him. In coming to the past, there was no way back to where he'd come from. _When_ he'd come from. Not any sort of easy one, anyway. But back then, he hadn't cared. Ironically enough, he had no future in the future. He had nothing. But he did think he had a future in the past.

And he could have done as well, if only everyone hadn't always thought he was the damn Green Lantern.

But Simmons was right there too. He'd come here expecting to find glory, money, fame. Instead he'd found something more. He'd found a purpose. And he'd found her.

But he'd also found that, no longer desperate for everyone to know his name, to be their icon and their figurehead, no longer desperate for riches, he was also starting to appreciate what he'd had. Nothing more so than his sister. The sister he'd never see again…

"She's got you there, Sir."

The new voice, higher pitched with electronic undertones, suddenly chirped up from behind him, causing him to glance back over his shoulder at it. Glaring, even. After all, his best mate and wing man was meant to have his back, not help give the game away!

But that was Skeets in a nutshell. He could only figure that even in the 25th century the boffins hadn't yet figured out how to make a robot truly with the sensibilities of a human. Yet the floating, golden egg was still about the best friend a guy could ever have. The best _cheerleader_. Even if sometimes his foot did live in his mouth.

"Sorry…" Skeets apologised at the look he was being given, bowing his optical receptor slightly in intimidation of embarrassment and guilt. But he couldn't stay mad at Skeets for long. Yet he had no chance to say so, not before the soft, femininehand was laid on his cheek. The hand that dragged his head back around, making him look Simmons in the eye all over again.

"It's ok! I understand, you know!" she told him, practically laughing. And her eyes…they were even more lit up than her face. Full of life, humour… _love_. Oh yes… No longer searching for fame and fortune may have left him homesick, but there was one thing he'd most certainly found here in the past. One thing he wouldn't trade for anything. Her. Simmons. He'd just rather have the rest of his life here too… "What you're going through, the… Well, for want of a better word, the _loss_. Its…its only human to miss what you left behind. Especially when its family.

"And as larger than life as you are, you are still human, _Booster Gold_."

That was his name. The one he'd wound up with anyway. Snazzier than Michael Carter, at least! Even if Simmons was the only civilian who ever seemed to remember it… Just another one of her good qualities, then! A thought which, as he continued to gaze down through his golden goggles, adorned in his hero suit, left him unable to resist. He stretched out an arm, and dragged her in close, so quick she let out a little noise in surprise. A _happy_ little noise.

"Don't you mean, _super_ human?" Booster corrected her with a cocky smirk as he gazed down at her. The look on her face, her returning smile, said it all. It had become alluring. _Inviting_. An invitation Booster simply couldn't refuse. Slowly at first, he leant in, their faces getting closer as he held her in his arms.

And then he kissed her. A kiss she fully returned. And a kiss full of passion. A kiss he wanted to go on forever. If not for the distracting noise…

" _Yaaaaaaayy_!" Skeets cheered, hovering in closer to the sight, his receptor glowing in a way Booster knew meant his holo-recorders were on. "Booster, you're doing it! You're kissing the girl!"

Booster couldn't help but let his eyes flash up at Skeets in another glare, but refused to break away from Simmons. Not while he had this moment to enjoy. He just had to stop Skeets ruining it! And so, knowing his robot shell could take it with ease, he swatted out one hand into the side of Skeets' small metal frame, sending the droid flying. He didn't go far, twirling off and spinning around on the spot like a dreidel, but it was enough to get him out of their hair.

Unfortunately for Booster, Simmons had seen all of it. He managed to go in for one last kiss before she succeeded in breaking away, slapping him in the chest again in the process. When Booster finally couldn't reach her lips anymore, she began to laugh at him all over again. But in a good way! That's what he always told himself…

"Always your little cheerleader!" she said through the laugh, looking back to Skeets as he almost comedically stopped his spinning, left wobbling on the spot like he was suffering a cartoonish dizziness. "I think its kind of sweet…"

"Oh don't get me wrong, I love the guy," Booster was quick to add for her, though he butted in again just as Skeets began to sound like he was going to chirp up again. "Be lost without him. But there's just _some_ times when a guy _doesn't_ need his best friend around, you know?"

"I know, Booster, I know," Simmons continued to chuckle at him in response. Only now she had that _other_ kind of mischievous look in her eye that he liked so much. "But don't go getting any ideas. I wasn't planning on letting things go _that_ far right now. Not with all these people watching. That'd have to wait for _later_."

For once in his life, Booster was left tongue tied at that. This time, definitely in a good way. His only reaction was for his eyebrows to shoot up well above his visor. Still, that meant Skeets got a word in edgewise this time, and he probably summed it up perfectly anyway.

"I believe the phrase is; ' _Oh my….'_ "

"You said it, Skeets…" Booster finally managed to speak, barely more than a whisper. His visor even seemed to be starting to fog over. Simmons, for her part, though, had suddenly gone serious again.

"I meant it Booster. _Michael_. I meant it. Listen, this… _grieving_ you're going through. I know its not one I've been through, but if ever you do feel you need to talk, I'll be there to listen. But, if I'm being totally honest… I'm glad you aren't with your family anymore. Because if you were, if you hadn't come back in time, then you couldn't have been with me…"

"And what more reason can a red-blooded guy have to call this _time_ home?" Booster replied with a smirk of his own, leaving Simmons practically blushing. But there was something else stabbing at him, something far less flirty he was now compelled to say. "And I am _so_ glad that you've got my back. Just doesn't mean I'm happy you're leaving."

Simmons cocked her head, looking at him from the top of her eyes, mouth compressed to one side. "Leaving…? Says the flying man with access to a teleporter? Come on Booster, I'm not going _that_ far, and you'll always be able to find me."

True, that. Very true. But still… Here they were, at the train station, Simmons with a ticket clutched in hand that she'd picked up while he'd been busy daydreaming. It certainly felt like she was going away. And that was bad enough. Even if she was most definitely coming back to him. And even if she had good reason for going in the first place.

When they'd first met, Simmons had been working closely with her lab partner on developing a new energy source. Something technical, something _black holey_. Booster didn't remember the full science details behind it. But it showed she had brains. That she was an expert on such things. So it made perfect sense that the Solar Nucleosynthewhatsits Project to come asking for her help.

Again, Booster didn't know all the scientific background for it, but he'd caught the gist. Scientists still trying to find a better answer to power the world than coal and gas thought they'd finally cracked the big one. Having sent an incredibly advanced space prove into the sun itself, collecting tiny fragments of matter in the process, they thought they'd finally found a way to make man-made Fusion power a reality. The same kind of Fusion reaction that happened at the heart of stars to make them burn so bright they lit up the skies.

It was kind of a big deal, and more than anything it needed top boffins on hand to both make sure it worked and to make sure it didn't result in them setting the world alight in one _incredibly_ hot fire. But if it did work, it would make a huge difference to the world, to lives, to the environment. It was kind of a big deal.

And so Simmons hadn't been able to turn it down. And most things considered, Booster would never have asked her to.

Only it was way off down in the Gulf of Mexico. Both near to where the space probe landed so the raw solar material didn't have far to travel to its specially designed reactor _and_ close to all that precious cooling water required to keep those reactors from overheating. And far away from the lives they had been making for each other in Metropolis.

Yeah, she was right, he could easily get down there to see her. But down there wasn't home. And where his head was at these days, he needed to be at a place he considered home. With the people he loved at his side.

Of course, his put his foot in his mouth even more than Skeets did, and he wouldn't even try to get that message across. Far too touchy feely for him not to get it wrong and say something stupid. So instead he went with the romantic angle. He could definitely do that one.

"Doesn't matter how easy it is to get to you," he moaned, putting on the best puppy dog expression he could, considering his eyes were masked behind the visor of his costume. "You're always too far away when you're not in my arms."

Simmons only looked at him. For several long seconds, all she did was stare, face blank. Only after a while did she finally react, an almost agonising wait. But when she did, it wasn't the reaction Booster had been expecting. She _laughed._

"You're so corny!" she just about got out through it, starting to laugh so hard some people were even starting to stare.

"Yeah, well, I _like_ corn!" Booster was quick to protest. "On the cob, popped, Lee Cornes, Korn's Groovy Private Ghost Mystery…"

"Shut up, you!" Simmons clearly couldn't take it anymore. Laughing all the way, she pulled him in close, doing what she could to stop his rambling humour. She kissed him all over again.

This time Skeets didn't get in the way. In fact, when his eyes were open to see, Booster even saw the little droid physically back away to avoid being slapped again. Unfortunately, no one had given the announcer the same message. The big booming voice that came out over the intercom, directing all passengers that the upcoming connecting train via Houston would be departing the station in five minutes time. General backround noise in a train station perhaps, but not this time. Not when it was Simmons time. Not when it was the signal for her to go.

And Booster knew it. Which was why he desperately tried to keep kissing her. To hell with the train. He'd fly her down later. He didn't want this moment to end. Not with this being the real fortune he'd travelled through time for. Simmons, though, had other ideas.

"Stop. Come on, stop," she just about got out between continued kissing, pressing herself away from Booster's chest as he continued to try and lean in. It was clear that it wasn't because she didn't want to keep kissing, she just knew she had to go. "That's my signal. They're expecting me. I need to get down there before they end up blowing the whole reactors. I gotta go…"

Booster opened his mouth, just about to start arguing. But then they heard it. They all heard it. It was impossible _not_ to hear it. It pierced the air, so high and wailing it pierced virtually everything.

The scream. The scream of pain, of terror of panic. The scream of someone who badly needed help.

Booster's reactions took hold before he'd even thought about it. It was coming from outside the station. Somewhere up above. The apartment block across the street… He'd seen it on the way in. It looked abandoned, scaffolding surrounding it for some form of renovations to the structure. But he was sure of it…

"I have a lock on the location of the disturbance," Skeets chimed in to confirm exactly that. "Turbines to speed, Sir?"

But Booster paused. He hesitated. He didn't move straight away. Instead, he could only look to Simmons. He wanted to say more, so much more, but he did know that he had to go. In the end he needed her to make it easy for him.

"Go. That's your cue. To save the day and try and sell some more cereal boxes. And you know where I'll be. We'll speak again soon… _Go!_ "

She practically pushed him away as she said that last bit. Booster stumbled back, still looking at her for as long as he could. But then he realised the reflexes were kicking in again, suddenly realising he was already in the air. He was already starting to fly. And with that, with one last glance at her before they broke apart, he spun, and then he began to fly.

This was the age of heroes after all. And Booster Gold was one of 'em. There was no more time to waste. Especially as, the second Booster burst out of the train station and back into the dazzling Metropolis daylight, another bloodcurdling scream issued forth.

"Where exactly is she up there, Skeets?!" Booster desperately called to his companion, the droid keeping pace with him and hovering just by his shoulder. All around them, other people had gathered, looking up at the same apartment block, just as Booster himself was doing. Whatever was happening up there, someone was in big trouble… He had to find them.

"Northwest corner, penultimate floor. Scanners detect the viewing gallery on the north face to be the most direct point of access. _Best friend_."

Damn. He had said that earlier hadn't he… Trust Skeets not to miss them! No…There were more important things to worry about right now! And with that, Booster was immediately flying, following Skeets' directions to the letter, up, up and away. And in next to no time, wind whipping around him, he was setting down up on that balcony, just as instructed. Even before his feet touched the ground, he was looking around for any sign of trouble. But he couldn't see any. Not at first.

"I can't see her Skeets! Where–!"

He didn't even manage to finish the sentence. The flash of light made him drone off first. The boom that followed would have droned him out anyway.

For in that moment, the whole floor exploded.

Booster had very little time to react, simply throwing up his arms to cover his head with as much of the power suit as possible. But he still saw enough of the flames. Enough of them as they hit him hard. And he also most definitely felt the force of the blast alongside it as it threw him clean across the sky. Boy, was he thankful for whichever genius built this future suit he'd stolen! Because without it…

"Booster! Are you alr–!" It was Skeets. The golden ball must have dodged the flames, and now here he was flying in Booster's way, making sure he was okay. A touching sentiment, but unfortunately the new, heroic Booster Gold had no time for self-obsession. Because his eyes were already on that building again, its top floors blown apart, left in shrapnel and flame.

And most importantly because, through all of that, he had finally caught sight of the woman who had been screaming. Not moving and partially buried under debris, flames licking all around her, it didn't look good. But so long as there was a chance, Booster knew what he had to do.

"Hold that thought, Skeets!" he yelled before flinging himself back through the skies. Using his laser blasts on the way in to try and disrupt the viscosity of the fires, he went full speed ahead to her side. He didn't even stop to think about the feel of the heat as he dropped down beside her, legs buried beneath a huge slab of fallen ceiling and rooftop. Utilising the strength of the powersuit, he grabbed at the debris and, with all his might he heaved. Still, he could feel every sinew stretching from the effort. But he didn't remember such building material being so damn heavy…

"Booster, wait!" Skeets called out, once again zipping in to Booster's side. This time, though, he sounded more insistent. "My readings here aren't adding up. I'm not reading a pulse…!"

"Don't…give…up…yet, Skeets!" Boost howled through the effort. Finally he managed to toss the debris aside, it landing nearby with a satisfying thunk. The woman, whoever she was, was clear. But Skeets was right in one way. She didn't look to be breathing. But that didn't mean it was hopeless. Which was why Booster was immediately leaning in to start the CPR.

Only for, the second that he made contact with her, the woman's entire body to disappear in a flash of light. As if she had never really been there at all…

"What the–?" Booster muttered, looking up at Skeets really confused. Only then did things start to dawn on him. Only then did he start to feel the heat. Or the _lack_ of it. He was right next to the flames, yet he wasn't burning up… The flames…The upper floors…The woman…The whole damn explosion…

It wasn't real.

It was an illusion.

"Skeets, we've been h–! YEAAAARRGH!"

The pain seared through him as he shouted the words. He'd made to try to fly, to move, to get out of there. This was a trap, it must have been. And he'd just unknowingly sprung it. For it was in that moment, before he could go anywhere, that the laser blast hit him, burning clean through his shoulder.

He was hit by the force of it again. Knocked down to the ground, smashing against the rooftop and skidding to a halt. _Now_ he felt the heat. Now he felt his shoulder burning, as if someone had lit a match right under his flesh. Yet still he had to try. Even before his body had stopped sliding across the hard surface, he gritted his teeth, and made to raise the laser of his own.

Only he never even managed to get his arm in the air. Not before the solid block of hard light slammed against his entire torso, pinning him and his arms flat to the deck, knocking the wind out of him in the process.

The trap was definitely sprung. And as Booster lay there, desperately trying but failing to heave the block of light off of himself, he saw who by. For it was then the man stepped forward, twisting the device on his belt. Before Booster's eyes, the whole scene suddenly changed. The fires disappeared. The top two floors of the building disappeared. All the damage disappeared. The _illusion_ put on top of the real building disappeared. Leaving only Booster and his attacker on the real rooftop. Not someone he'd ever come across, not someone the League considered a major threat, but still someone who was on their radar. Someone who had fought Superman and the rest before and sometimes held his own.

Luminus. The man who controlled light.

"Shoulda stayed where you came from, chump. Now I'm afraid you're bang out of time."

"I'll save you Booster!"

Of course, the two of them _weren't_ alone up there. But while he had played a security role far from now in that future museum, Booster knew that Skeets' weaponry wasn't designed for this kind of combat. Which was why he was already grimacing as he saw the little gold droid, security tool extended, flying in full throttle across the sky to try and save Booster from Luminus' grasp. In fact, it made him even more desperate. It made him put even more effort in to the heave. It made him finally start to lift the light, even starting to scream from the exertion.

But the next moment, he was screaming for an entirely different reason again. The next second, he saw that little old Skeets never even reached Luminus to try and be the hero.

The next second, the blast of energy surged across the sky, hitting both Booster and Skeets full on.

The blast of _electrical_ energy.

Booster couldn't help it. His entire body initially convulsed – at least as much as the block of light let it – as the energy coursed through his nerve endings. It meant he never saw as Skeets too was sent crashing down to the roof. But he heard it. And, desperate to protect his friend, that made him fight through the pain. The energy was still hitting him. The blast was constant. But he had to fight. He had to at least _see_. Yet when he managed to look back across that roof, he rather wished he hadn't.

The electrical energy was rippling over the whole rooftop, looking like miniature bolts of lightning. And out there, trapped in a cage of that energy, lay Skeets, fallen to the deck. And even worse, the red glow of his optical receptor…It had gone out. Booster had never seen that before, and it got him immediately scared. That energy dancing across the roof had knocked Skeets down good and proper…

But the energy didn't cover _all_ the roof, leaving clear the small path where Luminus stood. But the worst sight of all came when Booster realised Luminus was no longer alone.

She rose almost as if born of the energy. As if her entire being was made of it, and several strands of the electricity congealing together gave her her form. As if it was all a part of her and she a part of it. As if every bolt rippling through that rooftop was under her command. And she moved as if that was nothing out of the ordinary.

But worst of all, she moved to take the deactivated Skeets firmly into her hands.

And only then did Booster realise. He'd figured this was a trap. But it wasn't a trap for him. These guys…They were after _Skeets_. And now, they had him.

 _Livewire_ had him.

"Sorry fella, but this girl don't need a Boost. Livewire's got all the power she needs now!" she taunted, tossing Skeets up and down in her hand as if he was nothing more than a ball in the park. A horrible smirk was on her face as she stood there, clearly enjoying keeping Booster pinned in pain. Beside her, Luminus looked almost every bit as vainglorious.

"P…please! Don't…do this…"

Begging. He'd resorted to begging. Well, not as vain as he used to be, it was a valuable weapon in his arsenal now. Anything to try and save Skeets. Worth a try at least. Or it would have been, if it had worked. Instead, all it got him was a bigger shock than ever.

It tore through him, making him scream out even louder than before, head thrown back by it all. Even when he managed to force his eyes open, all he could see was the light of the energy. But through it all, he just about heard the cackled call of villainy.

"I don't think so, Marty McFly! Now come on Eddie, we got what we came for! We gotta split before they send the real big guns in!"

It stayed that way for what almost certainly felt far longer than it was. Still, it was for long enough. Booster was moving as soon as he could, trying to see again as soon as he could. Because the pain did begin to recede. _Slowly_. But with it, so did hope.

For as the energy stopped coursing through him, Booster also suddenly realised the weight was gone from his chest. The hard light had gone too. As the final sparks of energy faded from around him, Booster pushed himself up with what strength he had, feeling incredibly drained. Once again, what he saw made him feel a profound sense of horror. But this time, it wasn't because he could see villains.

This time, it was because he couldn't see any. Anywhere.

Stumbling, feeling like he could fall at any second, Booster quickly charged for the nearest edge of the rooftop, collapsing against its railing. From there, he desperately scanned across the city, looking for anything, any sign. Even just a hint of a spark that might be a clue as to where they had gone. But there was nothing. No sign anywhere. No trace, other than the chaos they'd left behind.

" _SKEETS_!" Booster howled into the now still air with every breath he could draw into his lungs, his tone betraying his fears and regret. But it was to no avail. There was no comforting, familiar reply back.

Luminus. Livewire. They were both gone. And they'd taken Skeets with them.

But for what end…that was anyone's guess. And one Booster didn't dare even begin to think about.

Because whatever it was, it wouldn't be good. For any of them.

And the day had started so nicely too….


	2. 1: The Font of All Knowledge

**_A/N:_**

* * *

 ** _Did I say #WonderBatMilestones week began on 2nd July? You bet I did!_**

 ** _Oh, and what's that I see on the little clock on my screen. The date? Its...its the 2nd of July! For me at least. Compared to some of you, I live in the future. Its great, I can't wait for you to see it!_**

 ** _But guess what? There's no need to wait for my #WonderBatMilestones. For it has arrived! And_** **_here it is - Day One!  
_**

 ** _Now sit back, relax, focus them eyes, and enjoy!_**

 ** _Oh please...Please enjoy!_ Please...?!**

 _ **Either way, if you could be so kind as to let me know what you think by dropping me a review, it'll be much appreciated!**_

* * *

 **1: The Font of All Knowledge**

She was exhausted. Letting out a large sigh, she slumped into the chair in her quarters, desperate to get the weight off her feet. Quickly flipping off her shoes, she was even soon rubbing at the soles. But truth be told, it was mostly psychological. But then, that's what happens when the weight of the world is on your shoulders.

Although that said, she'd have been more comfortable if that was a _literal_ statement. But today hadn't been a day for fighting the bad guys and saving the world with fists. No, today had been a day for diplomacy to take the lead. And while she was more than ready to talk, preferring it to any fight, if the people on the other side of the table weren't as prepared to speak then it was more exhausting than any battle.

And that was exactly what she had had to endure today. In her appointed role as a Themysciran ambassador to Man's World, she had volunteered to help where the situation had needed her most, in any capacity. Today, that had meant attempting to mediate on behalf of the UN with the leaders of Qurac.

The country was suspected of using the funds of the state to help sponsor terrorist activities in the region. Considering recent destabilisations in countries like Kasnia that only narrowly avoided disaster, the governed and the governing had demanded action quickly. But any reaction had to be based on truth, and preferably on co-operation. That was what she had sought to establish. To open the dialogue with the leaders of Qurac, to confirm their stance on the matter. To find out if they had any concerns or fears that might lead to such actions, and help create a path to avoiding those fears leading only to death and despair.

She had gone with an olive branch and an open heart, despite what the people of the UN had warned her about. The Quraci leadership, though, had mean close-minded, paranoid and quick to aggression. No matter what she had said, how assuring she had tried to be, they had refused to listen. They had not allowed the truth to shine through, and without the truth there could be no way forward. As the session had been brought to a close, the only thing they had agreed to was to reconvene in a few days time.

Hera, how she wished she could have just used Hestia's lasso on those arrogant men…

She closed her eyes as she sat there, wanting to calm her mind and move away from such frustrating thoughts. Almost absentmindedly, she also reached up and pulled the band from her hair, releasing it back to its flowing length. Not on heroic business, she'd attended the summit in smart civilian attire. But while it may be something designed for comfort, truth be told she was more comfortable in her armour.

Leaning her head back, she couldn't help but sigh once more over it all. It was only when she heard the sound, the soft, gentle patter of the porcelain being set against the table top, that she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the mug, the tell-tale whipped cream topping telling her it was her favourite iced mocha. That alone could have made her eyes light up after the day she'd had. But then she saw the man who leant against that table, facing down to her. The Themysciran ways still within her may well have left her more than a little annoyed if it had been any other man gaining entrance to her quarters without her knowledge or permission. This man, though…In every sense of the word, he was different.

"Thought you could use the pick me up, Princess," Batman said to her, the calmness in his voice when they were alone together still sounding odd when he was fully decked out in his suit. Smiling wasn't always his strong suit either, but there was a warmth to the way those lips ever so slightly curled, of how his eyes were wide and open to her through those lenses.

And because of it all, despite her day to that point, Diana couldn't help but smile for the both of them.

"Always several steps ahead, aren't you?" she replied through the grin, tongue firmly in cheek. "But thank you, Bruce. Its really very sweet."

She rested her hand on his gauntlet as she said that last part, stifling the chuckle at his momentary unease. He was good at being caring and thoughtful, but he never got used to – or enjoyed – her calling him on it like this. The Dark Knight of Gotham didn't like it when people pointed out just how much of a pussycat he really was.

"It went about as well as might be expected then?" Batman asked back in response, clearly eager to move things on. Telling though, he didn't move his hand away from hers. Instead, he actually slightly twisted his gauntlet so as they were both holding on to each other, even gently caressing her hand with his thumb.

Diana had to lean forward, grab the drink and take a big, long sip before she could bring herself to answer. "Those men are fools. They don't realise what they're doing to their people, to the world around them. How their singlemindedness and aggression drives fear into and oppresses the people. And they don't want to listen when we try to help them see a better way. They're exactly the kind of specimens of mankind that my mother used to warn me about growing up on Themyscira."

Now Batman actually let out what could only be described as a quick, soft chuckle, a wry, mischievous look now caressing his face. Diana had to quickly set her mocha back down to avoid choking on it at the sight.

"Terrorists or no," Batman dryly said as she looked back up to him. "I'd bet that's how you've reacted every time you first met a man since leaving the island."

Now Diana was indeed glad she'd set the mug down. Fighting back the urge to laugh at him herself, instead she leant forward, now holding his gauntlet in both of her hands, a soft embrace despite her towering strength. And the look on her face…seductive put it lightly. "Not _all_ men…"

"Oh? Pray tell, Princess." She could have sworn she saw his eyebrow raise, even though there was no way to through the cowl. The mischievous look was definitely still there though.

For a moment, Diana had to look to the floor, remembering back to that day. What now felt like a whole lifetime ago. The day where the whole Justice League had come together for the first time to engage the first Imperium threat to the Earth. The day when the two of them had first met. Fighting in that valley, then side by side with Bruce and J'onn at the alien foundry by the pyramids. Then the moment when Batman had amazed them all to show them how to save the world. And just the thought of it – and how far they'd come since – made her smile with happy thoughts. Happy thoughts that finally made her look back up into the eyes of that cowl.

"Honestly…My first impression was… _guided_ by my Mother and the Amazons, somewhat. But in leaving Themyscira for Man's World, I did try to have an open mind, an acceptance that what I would see would not be what I was used to, and a candidness to see that a different set of values to the Amazons did not necessarily mean a set of wrong values. But despite all that…

"I remember finding you proud, arrogant, overly commanding. I thought I saw a man too at home in the shadows. I admit that for a brief moment, I did see in you what my Mother would have wanted me to see. But one simple thing meant I also saw more.

"Your heart. Right from the start, I could also see your heart. I could see there was good in you, the man who would push himself to the edge, who would do things no normal man should be able to do, in order to protect the innocent. I saw the selflessness. And that's why, right from the start, I valued your presence.

"And from there, I've only learnt more about just how good a man you really are. And how you are anything but the nightmare of man from the tales of old."

"Just an entirely different kind of nightmare," he continued to smirk, not dropping a step, despite what she'd said. Knowing Bruce, she probably hadn't actually surprised him at all anyway.

"In… _a_ manner of speaking," Diana winked back instead, before patting his forearm with her hand. "Now come on. If we're playing this game, it's your turn. What was _your_ first impression of _me_?"

If anything, Batman's smirk only got more pronounced. "Immediate interest…in _every_ sense of the term."

His flirting game was strong today, Diana had to give him that! And if she was being honest with herself, it was also working. But then it had been doing for a long, long time… She had told him of her first impression. The more recent ones were certainly much more… _favourable_.

And that was what lead her to actually stand. Not saying a word, she simply leant in, closer. Her hands softly rested on either side of his cowl as she got nearer, focus on his face, his lips…

Only for his hands to suddenly latch onto her bracelets, causing her to stop and back away.

At first she was wondering what was wrong, what had stopped him, but then she heard it too. A commotion. Coming from outside. Not an alert, not a call to arms coming from the command centre. Just one man. Shouting his head off, clearly desperate for someone to listen. One man who had often proved so self-centric that many had stopped listening.

Booster Gold.

"-ybody here?! Come on, guys I need help! They took him, and I've no idea where they've gone! Come on! Somebody! We have to fi–! _Batman! Wonder Woman!_ Am I glad to find you guys! You've gotta help me!"

"I should have shut the door…" Batman growled under his breath so that only Diana could hear. At the same time, he let go of her wrists, allowing her to put her arms back down by her sides and to take a step a way into a more casual, nonchalant pose. She'd hoped Booster wouldn't noticed. He seemed so caught up in his own thing. But truthfully, the faintest crease of recognition began to cross his features, and so Diana stepped in to keep his mind distracted.

"What is it this time Booster? If this is about another attempt to get yourself an endorsement deal then y–"

"No!" Booster quickly interjected, both shaking his head and waving his hands out in front of his chest. He also continued to seem very desperate. Diana had just been talking to Bruce of first impressions. Her one of Booster had been as derogatory as it had been for the Quracis. Chauvinistic, egotistical, greedy, he had never seemed Justice League material to her. That's why he was so often relegated to crowd control. But, at least on this occasion, maybe she had been too quick to judge… "No, its not that! This isn't…That's not _me_ anymore, guys! This is about _Skeets!_ They took him! Ambushed us down in Metropolis! Hit us both up with about a billion volts, nabbed Skeets and left me there to rot! We…we can't leave him with them! Please… You gotta help me… You gotta help me find him. Because I have no idea where to even start looking, and I'm… _afraid_ what they might do to him. We gotta save him…Please…He's my best friend."

As he'd spoken, Booster only got more and more desperate. His voice went from chaotic energy to almost weary despair in just those few sentences. If she needed any more proof, that was the moment that Diana knew this was definitely real. The moment she knew that, self-centred or no, Booster really did need their help. And besides, more recently he had been very _good_ at handling crowd control. Maybe he really did deserve the help too...

Silently, she looked up to Bruce, finding him looking over at her too. He was still leant against the table, arms now folded, and his face had gone like stone, unmoving. For most, it would be unreadable. But Diana knew enough of the minute signs to know. Bruce was even harder on Booster than she was. He clearly still seemed to have some doubts about Booster's sincerity, or perhaps over the severity of what was happening. At the very least, he had some doubts if this was worth his time.

But he could read her every bit as well. And he could read how she knew one of them had to go. Diana would have been prepared to be the one to help, but really they both knew this was more Bruce's field of expertise. Besides, she was still felt exhausted, a fact Bruce had already proved he'd picked up on with his first gesture of the day.

And then, as she looked at him, she saw it. The faintest nod of acceptance. He'd do this for her as well, even without her asking.

Hera, did she love him.

"Let's go Booster…" he sighed, finally starting to move away. But as he passed he gave Diana another look, its meaning clear. _You owe me. Big time._ Oh, how she knew it! But she'd find _some_ way to make it up to him later…

"Thank you, Bats, thank you!" Booster gushed, jumping up and down like an excited school girl as Batman drew near him. Watching it, Diana sat herself down again, having to fight off the smirk as she saw Bruce practically have to spin Booster around and drag him out of there, so caught up was he in his emotion. "This means a lot to me, you know, I reall app–"

"JUST…" Batman interjected forcefully as they stepped over the threshold of the door to Diana's quarters, the annoyance already plain as day in his voice. "Tell me what happened…"

As Booster started to explain, jabbering away so fast Flash would have been proud of the speed, both men disappeared down the corridor and beyond Diana's view. And then, finally, she let out the chuckle.

Yes, she would definitely owe Bruce big time. She thought she'd had it bad with the Quracis… Bruce would do well to make it through this without strangling Booster!

Still, just so long as they found Skeets. And whatever else was going on.

But with that, Diana turned back to see the iced mocha stills at invitingly on the desk before her. Reaching forward, she gathered it up and took another long, refreshing sip. But as she breathed in the joys of it, another thought struck her, one that made her curious. But one that no doubt Bruce would get to the bottom of.

Why would anyone go through all that trouble just to kidnap Skeets…?

* * *

She'd had to get Luminus to check the GPS more than once, but every time he'd assured her this was the place. Small, boxy, _boring_ … It wasn't her kind of hideout. Too reminiscent of the old radio booths, and she'd evolved way past those old days. Literally. But here they were, exactly as they'd said they'd be.

"How long do you think this is gonna take?"

They'd already ventured inside. The place clearly designed with secrecy its main form of security, it had been no trouble at all. Already, they'd arrived at the workshop, as she decided to think of it. After all, with all the wiring, soldering gear, server banks, interface systems and monitors, it was probably an electrical engineers dream.

But her…Her dreams were just about getting paid. And raw, unlimited power. Power just like Livewire herself.

Luminus looked up at her as she stood there, casually tossing the still disabled robot in her hand like she was warming up for a game of catch. He didn't look too keen on her actions, almost as if he was scared she was going to break it. Their pay check relied on that robot after all. Still, his indignation was her satisfaction.

"What's the matter, Eddy? You lost your spark?" she teased, even throwing the robot a little higher to mess with him some more. Seeing him shoot out a cushion of hard light to snatch Skeets away from her only made her laugh in his face.

"Don't mess around with that thing…!" Luminus protested as he pulled Skeets into a more protective hold, but already starting to rest the robot on the workbench before him. "We've no idea how its constructed in there, how delicate its contents are. After the jolt you gave it at the station, we're already at risk of having damaged some of its memory engrams as it is..."

"Relax, would you?!" Livewire continued to laugh at him. "This thing's from the _future_! And not like a few weeks in the future, a few _hundred years_. If its built well enough to be worth the trouble of us capturing it, it's circuits will be strong enough to survive a blown fuse or two!"

"Just…stand back while I figure out how to get it open so we can interface with its systems, please!" Luminus continued to stress the point, literally holding his hands up to keep her back. That she didn't like. This suddenly wasn't funny anymore. Not now she was being so disrespected. She hadn't chosen this partnership, it had been forced upon her by necessity. The former Lexcorp inventor, he had the tech background needed to pull off this next phase of the plan. But that didn't mean she had to take any of his crap.

That was why, with a point of her finger, she sent a highly concentrated spark of current zapping right at the droid.

Luminus yelped at the heat, the force of it. He pulled his hands back just in time before that jolt coursed through him too. But as he stared daggers up at her, Livewire could only smugly grin back at him.

For in that droid's hard shell now had a freshly made access port, smoking of molten metal, revealing all the circuitry that lay waiting for them inside.

"You're welcome…" Livewire sarcastically said to him. "Now earn your pay and get hacked into its memory banks already. Before I decide to light up something else."

For a long moment, Luminus only glared at her, angry over what she'd just done. But as with all of them, his greed won out in the end. "Fine. But you…stay back. This thing'll have plenty of security firewalls built in, and it'll be _delicate_ work to get around it all without corrupting the data. Just…just sit back and wait while I get us in."

Livewire didn't say any more. A gesture, a shrug, said it all anyway. An acceptance, but not a joy. Sitting and waiting around always sucked, but if that's what she needed to do to get paid…

To confirm the gesture, she slowly took a few steps backwards, giving Luminus some space. But in doing so, it was then that she saw it. The motion at the back of the room.

The motion as someone else was stepping forwards towards them.

And then, as Livewire began to stare, that figure even started clapping, a slow, deliberate clap. Even Luminus then stopped to look back at the silhouette coming from the darkness.

"Well done, both of you. You have done well."

* * *

"Umm…Not that I'm not grateful for your help, Bats, but why are we _here_ …?"

Batman flashed him a glare at the sound of Booster's words. Already he was annoying him no end. His ignorance of the process definitely didn't help.

"Because beaming straight back down into the middle of Metropolis will solve _nothing_ ," he growled. "You said yourself that Livewire and Luminus left no trail. This isn't some children's cartoon. We won't suddenly find a box of matchsticks on that rooftop with their hotel name emblazoned on the front. We have to be patient. _You_ have to be patient. We need to find a trail that we can actually follow."

"But…but…" Booster spluttered as if trying to argue again, but another glare from Batman was enough to shut him up there and then. Miming zipping his lips shut, Booster finally leant back, allowing Batman to get to work.

They were in one of the Watchtower's data rooms, Batman sat before the huge screen, Booster stood right beside his shoulder. But truth be told, as soon as Booster had told him who it was that had assaulted him in Metropolis, Batman had known exactly where to start. Some people were so predictable.

"No, wait…!" Booster suddenly burst out again, unable to hold his tongue for long. This time Batman could only sigh, but Booster kept going. "I don't get it. How are we going to find him from here? They could be absolutely _anywhere_! Doing who knows what to him–!"

"Calm down or you'll help no one," Batman snapped, unable to sit and listen to Booster have a meltdown. But he also gave Booster exactly what he wanted. Anything to shut him up. "Just like you, Livewire and Luminus are driven by emotion and _greed_. The only difference between them and you is that you have some shred of morality. The kidnapping of Skeets was too cold and calculated for either of them to have been driven by their own desires. This is not their style. It has too much purpose behind it for either of them."

"Purpose…?" Booster muttered, confused. He clearly hadn't stopped to truly consider _why_ this was happening. That made Batman glare at him again.

"Don't be so naïve."

"But…Okay, so who _is_ behind this…?" Booster just about managed to get out. It sounded very much like he still couldn't see the wood for the trees, but was just too scared to press. For now, Batman was okay with that.

"Their benefactor," he answered. By now he'd turned back to the computer, getting the 'backdoor' programme active. "And where Metropolis is concerned, there's only one real place to look as to who that could be."

"But…" Booster spluttered yet again. "But I thought Lex Luthor was gone… Disappeared with Darkseid…Trapped in some cosmic space thingy for all time…"

"The Source Wall, and yes he is," Batman confirmed. The loading bar was beginning to fill on the screen. "However, his assets, resources and contacts remain. Everything he owned, all aspects of Lexcorp, have reverted to her once again. And over the years, while she has more decency to her than Lex, she's shown that she's just as susceptible to _moments of immorality_ as he was. Only she's not as smart about it. Which means breaking through the firewalls protecting her secrets is much easier than it would have been, especially as I've had months to break down the protective systems Luthor had left behind, ready for whenever she tried to play her hand. And when we're in, we'll be able to follow the paper trail to find out exactly what facilities she's trying to hide off-book. Your droid will be in one of those."

Booster was staring at him, jaw hanging open. It made Batman glance back over at him again, only now with more of a scowl than a glare. Booster was clearly amazed. Perhaps it was a good job after all that Batman was helping him. Considering the potential consequences of all this, maybe it was worth his time after all. Maybe the payback Diana owed him for this didn't have to be as high value. Not that he'd tell her that…

However, it was then that the loading bar on the screen finally reached 100%, the spike in the Lexcorp systems having broken down every last layer of protective software that had been keeping him out. That draw Batman's eyes back immediately. And straight away, the face of the new CEO, the person in control of it all, came on screen.

The person who Batman _knew_ had arranged for the capture of Skeets. And through whose records they would find _where_ he was held.

Mercy Graves.

* * *

She always wound up working with the scum of the Earth, but that was what happened when a man like Lex Luthor had you corrupted for so many years. Still, he was gone now, a fact Mercy had to keep silently reminding herself of at least twenty times a day. She was free of his tyrannical obsessions. And everything was hers now. The power, the money, the influence.

And the needs…Because right now, there was definitely something she needed. Something that had been keeping her up at night for so long now. Something she needed to get sorted.

Albeit discretely, outside of any official channels. That was why she'd taken every step she could think of to cover her tracks, despite having to use Lexcorp resources to make this real. She hadn't Lex's smarts of course, but she had her own kind. Years spent as head of security, she felt safe that it would someone with some serious genius to track her down, and as far as she was concerned that shouldn't be a problem. From everything she'd seen and heard, it definitely didn't apply to Booster Gold.

But this wasn't something Mercy could do alone, even if she had to avoid bringing in any of the employees of Lexcorp, even the most enticing of the brains there. That left her little choice but to break out Lex's little black book of every villain Metropolis had ever seen.

Luminus and Livewire, they were both scum. They both exactly the kind of people Mercy wanted nothing at all to do with anymore. But they were also the means to a required end. They had exactly the skillsets that Mercy had needed to both capture the droid and crack its skull open to show her the contents. They were nothing but her tools, mercenaries all paid for with Lex's money – _her_ money.

Of course, from the moment she'd stepped out of the shadows, she'd been having to assure them both that their payments would be coming their way. Those two only ever had such simple drives – greed or revenge. Pathetic. But at least in giving them their assurances it was coming, they'd got back to work. Now, as Mercy watched on from the back of the room, Luminus was continuing his efforts to break down every security feature built into that droid from the future. The droid was all hooked up, the source codes of its programme accessed by the computer banks Mercy had paid to put in place in this off-the-books bunker, walls of coding up on the screen that Luminus was trawling through.

He was getting them closer to everything in that droid's memory banks, step by step…

"So what is you actually wanted with the droid anyway?"

Finally. Not that she'd particularly wanted to hear it, but Mercy had been expecting that question for so long now. They'd asked it when first taking the job, of course, but it had been easy to shrug it off then. Now, when Mercy needed them more than ever and was largely at _their_ mercy, the question had finally been asked again.

While she was stood arms cross paying close attention to Luminus' every move, Livewire was sat slumped at the back off the room in an uncomfortable looking fold-up chair. Her boredom was evident, and clearly it had just gotten the best of her. But even worse, her words had made Luminus pause in his work, looking back at them over his shoulder, clearly curious and intent to hear the answer.

"I mean, we know why, in terms of the gist," Livewire went on, sounding like she was thinking out loud. "Robot from the future you want us to break into the memory banks oh? A second grader could work that one out! What I mean is _why_ why… What's the play?"

"A lot of interest all of a sudden," Mercy muttered, hoping that the noncommittal answer itself may be enough to put them back to work. Unfortunately, Luminus kept on staring, and now he too got to asking.

"You're trying to learn all about things that haven't happened yet," he pressed the point. "Makes me wonder what that is. And if we should be getting a bigger slice of the pie…"

"So what is it?" Livewire chipped back in. "Next week's lottery numbers? Nicking the next big invention? Playing the stock market? …seeing if they ever manage to actually find Waldo…?"

Mercy couldn't help but let out an actual snort of laughter, shaking her head. They'd decided to be persistent, she'd give them that. Yet as she thought about it, she realised it really wouldn't hurt to bring them into the loop. After all, depending on what that droid told them, she might need some scum for allies in the months to come. And – perhaps most importantly – it ought to make Luminus get back to work.

"Unfortunately its nothing quite so _mundane_ , but I like your thinking," she eventually answered them both, Livewire now having sat up and leant in, much more attentive now. "Actually, my objective is much more… _personal_. You see, in recent times, I've had the power in this city. I've been in control, not least of all over my own destiny. And I've rather enjoyed this fact. I'd quite like to keep it that way. Not least of all because I no longer have all the _headaches_ to deal with that come with working for an genius, egotistical megalomaniac. But I also happen to know just how resourceful, persistent and relentless that man could be. Far too much, even when you thought he was dead and buried, he'd find a way back."

"You aren't saying…?" Luminus breathed at her from the desk. Mercy looked straight back at him, and gave him an unequivocal nod.

"I most certainly am. He may be gone, but I need to know if he'll come back. I need to know if we'll ever have to endure his smug, bald face again. If his reign of terror will resume. I need to know if I get to keep my power, and if I don't, how we can change that. I need to see the future this droid has locked in its circuits.

"I need to know what happens in the future, because I need to know if Lex Luthor ever makes it back from the Source Wall. And how to kill him if he does."

That made both of them stop and really stare. It had taken a lot of people a lot of time to get used to the idea that Lex Luthor was gone. Especially amongst _their_ community. And especially as so many of them were happy about the fact. But clearly, now that they had accepted it, none of them had ever stopped to think that he might actually come back one day. But Mercy… She'd been dreading it every moment of every day since. More than any of them she knew what Lex was like, what he was capable of. What he would likely do if he did ever come back. And it wouldn't be good. Not just for her either. For _anybody_.

So really, what she was doing right now could even be described as benevolent. Just as soon as Luminus could crack open that droid…

The timing was perfect. Right then, the screens behind Luminus suddenly lit up bright. Mercy, though, had to point and nod towards it before she broke through his reverie enough to make Luminus turn to react to it. When he did though, he was fairly quickly looking right back at her.

"We're in…"

And Mercy could see it too. For while the screen still just displayed walls of code completely meaningless to her, the screen itself was no obscured. Obscured by another, a holographic one projected up in front of it. A hologram originating straight from the droid itself. A hologram, seemingly projected at random, showing recognisable figures of the Justice League in action, seeming to be fighting some kind of giant robots at some coastal industrial plant. Mercy could out Wonder Woman, the Green Lantern, Captain Atom, several of them all engaged in some kind of vicious looking battle, civilians in the midst too. But what she was really interested in was a simple label in the corner, perhaps the reason why this particular image had sprung up first.

For it was a date and time stamp of the footage. And while it was today, and wasn't current footage. It wasn't even from the last few hours.

But it _was_ from two hours ahead.

They'd done it. Knowledge of the future… It was hers for the taking.

"Then it means you two are out," she told them. "Half of what I promised you is already in your accounts. The other half will be transferred as soon as I've got what I need from this robot. You're welcome to stick around in the building if you don't trust me to pay up, but I need the room. So with all politeness possible, get the hell out."

Luminus and Livewire both stood at her words, a little aggression clear in Luminus' motion in particular, but Mercy held her ground. She'd stared down much more fearful beings than either of them and kept on standing. Her hand didn't move, but it was ready. She was ready. Luminus had his light abilities, Livewire her electrical powers, but Mercy hadn't come here unarmed. Her own weapon was hidden at the nape of her spine, ready for a quick draw if needed. And lined with enough material to make sure even someone turned half to pure energy would stay down. But there was to be no confrontation, not after they took a second to actually think about it.

"Basic search functions. Here and here. You can go by keyword, date or both. And rest assured, you need anything, we'll be right outside. Ready and _waiting_ ," Luminus growled, clearly not happy but at least accepting. Livewire just made a grunt, but showed her own consent by already turning to leave. Mercy held her ground to watch them go. Sure, she'd read them in to her intent, but she had to see this first. She and she only could know the future, at least at first. If she saw something she had to share, then she would. But for now, this was hers. _Her_ power. Power more than Lex had _ever_ achieved, for all of his smarts.

It was only as the door behind her shut with a 'clunk' that Mercy moved from the spot where she stood, slinking forwards to slide into the seat Luminus had just vacated. She saw the command keys Luminus had instructed, two PDA type devices plugged directly into the robots innards, the small gold droid now right in front of her with its guts spilled open. Gutted like a fish. At least it was still being kept silent.

Not wanting to wait around, though, Mercy got straight to it. The date parameter was simply anything later than today. The keywords, meanwhile, were even more obvious for her, even more imperative for now; "Lex Luthor". And then she hit the button to begin the search, and sat back to watch what it displayed…

Only for nothing to happen. Only for the hologram not to change…

Only for it to keep showing her the Justice League locked in combat…

Mercy swore. At first she thought it was sabotage, that Luminus had done something to keep her out, trying to worm more out of her. She grabbed for the input devices, determinedly and repeatedly hitting the 'enter' key as if it would make a damn bit of difference, bashing the device against her palm as if a loose wire could be the answer.

But then, in the next moment, she saw something else that made her suddenly stop. Something up on that display of the future. The future she hadn't chosen to see, but was seeing anyway…

The _person_ it was that the Justice League of the future had been fighting.

And what that person had done when the League had failed to stop them…

Mercy Graves did not consider herself a bad person. Yes, she'd participated in the enacting of bad things over the years. She'd helped to enable one of the biggest villains the world had ever known. But as far as she was concerned, there were still innocents who didn't deserve to suffer. They had meant nothing to Lex, but Mercy still had a heart. So long as she had her money and power, so long as they didn't stand in her way, she wanted to see them safe too. She wanted to protect them, in her own way. Just like she was trying to protect them from Lex right now. She was no hero, she wasn't trying to kid herself. But under the right circumstances, she would kill to protect the people. Especially when it was from scum.

And what she was seeing now… Lex Luthor was now suddenly the least of her concerns.

It happened in an instant, but its effects lasted forever. As she watched the display, Mercy's eyes opened wide in horror as she realised the full extent of what she was seeing. What it would do to so many lives… To the world… To her _interests_ … As she realised the true extent of the devastation…

So many lives…

As she realised that this wasn't the _only_ future. She'd already resolved that if the droid told her that Lex did make it back from the Source Wall, she'd use that knowledge to kill him and rewrite the future. The future was not set, not as far as Mercy was concerned. Only she would decide her destiny. And she could start by doing that right now. She could change the horrors she had just seen. She could stop it.

Hell, if he were here, even Lex would have tried to stop it… _Even Lex…_

Mind trapped on those thoughts, Mercy's hands dropped to her lower back. Before she knew it, they were out in front of her, the gun with the specially laced bullets held within. She looked at it for several long moments, before glancing at the still silenced, motionless droid. Its holo-emitters were still active, but she couldn't look up at the display. Still, staring at the robot was like a form of ratification, reminding herself of the price of inaction. The robot from the future…The future that would be unless they did something to change it. Unless she took the shot. Unless she was ready to end the being she had just seen cause all of that horror.

One shot would do it. One shot to change everything.

One shot in the head of the person who would cause so much suffering. Including to Mercy's power. Suffering Mercy couldn't allow. Just one shot, into one person…

The very same person who happened to be just on the other side of that door.

 _Livewire…_


	3. 2: Tomorrow's Yesterday

**_A/N:_**

* * *

 ** _So #WonderBatMilestones Day 2...I wrote this the other day, with the intention of giving it a polish tonight...but my head might still be on that penalty shootout haha!_**

 _ **But since Day 2 ends in less than an hour for me, figured I'd best post the rough cut anyway!**_

 _ **So here it is, for your reading pleasures!**_

 _ **...Get in there England!**_

* * *

 **2: Tomorrow's Yesterday**

She was bored again. She was sitting and waiting, _again_. Man, was it dull…

Livewire was slumped against the wall, having allowed herself to collapse down to the floor. She was snapping her fingers absentmindedly as she sat there, creating sparks every time. It was a bit like a ticking clock for her, helping to present the passage of time. Only, well, _cooler_. Luminus though, clearly had a different idea.

"Look, would you knock it off!" he hollered down at her. It was a fairly small corridor that the two of them were waiting in, not a whole lot of room. Not a whole lot of space between them, especially with them both… _fractious_ personalities. They'd both moved away from the door to the workshop so as not to piss off Graves, which meant they were practically on top of one another at the corridor's other end. Right now, Luminus practically stood over her as he leant against the opposite wall at his full height. In his hands, he had some sort of smart device he was playing with. It didn't take a genius to work out what he was doing.

"Why, you think a couple of sparks are going to make your riches disappear?" Livewire teased, snapping her fingers once again for effect. "Graves said she'd make the rest of the transfer when she's done, so relax will ya?"

"Oh, and you're so secure you aren't even going to check the first half of your cash has landed, I suppose?" Luminus snapped again, his irritability intense. Clearly, now he had no robot to tinker around inside of, his boredom was getting the better of him even more than Livewire's was her. Still, she could only look up at him, grin, and snap her fingers yet again.

Only this time was a little different. This time, her fingers didn't just spark, she turned them to pure energy. Energy she sent zapping into Luminus' smart device. For a second he jumped, the screen going bright. Seemingly petrified that she was trying to electrocute him, he even dropped the thing. But before it had even hit the ground, Livewire had her energy back out of the thing, pulled back into her being. And then, she was smirking up at him again.

"I just did. All there. Every last penny."

Luminus at first stared daggers down at her. That alone she enjoyed. Seeing the change on his face as he realised what she'd just done made it even better. Oh the joys of being able to control electronic devices with just the touch of her finger!

But then, she saw something else start to cross Luminus' face too. Some sort of idea that definitely left him looking pleased with himself…

"Wait…" he began to express it. "If you can do that with my device… Fancy finding out all about the future our glorious leader won't let us see?"

"Doesn't work like that chump," Livewire shook her head. She knew where he was coming from. The curiosity, the hatred of being cut out of the loop after all they'd done to get it this far, after still being owed half their fees. She too would love to see every last bit that Graves was looking at in there. But… "I can't access anything remote. Only what's in front of me or what's hooked up to the grid. Even though you've broken past its security grids, I can't get into that droid unless I was actually in there to touch it."

"You don't have to though, don't you see?" Luminus was quick to counter, practically jumping up and down in excitement. "That droid _is_ hooked up to the grid! _I_ hooked it up when I plugged it in to Graves' servers! You've got an in. You can find out what it is she's really mixing us up in. You can find out if she's screwing us, or if we're going to get _paid_!"

Livewire didn't answer. Not verbally. She just suddenly looked up at him, eyes wide. Because suddenly it all made total sense. His _idea_ made total sense. And then, her eyes fell to the plug socket across the corridor from her. Her way in…

Still saying nothing, she simply stretched out her arm. Just as her finger had before, the whole arm now became energy, zapping into the mains, into the power grid. In her minds eye, it was almost like she was in two places at once, both sat in that corridor and zooming down the power cables. It was kind of like being a rat in a maze in there, but she had had a _lot_ of experience of finding her way over the years. In no time, Livewire had made it through the servers just beyond that door. And then she'd made her way into that droid.

Into the very projectors that it was using to show Mercy the future.

In enough to see exactly what images it was showing to Mercy through her static filled mind's eye…

And immediately, Livewire leapt up from the ground, wishing she hadn't seen a thing. At the same time, she pulled every part of her arm out of that socket, reverting it back to its physical form. Anything to get out of that vision. She hadn't even seen what had happened, what had caused it. But she could guess enough. And she'd definitely seen the aftermath. That was easily bad enough.

She had built her whole life around shocking people, around going places no-one else dared to go. What she had seen in there had been too far, even for her.

"What is it? What's wrong? Livewire! _What did you see_?"

Luminus' voice was suddenly calling out. At first she'd forgotten he was even in the room, so affected was she by what she'd seen. He had to literally shake her out of it before she could look at him again instead of a thousand yards ahead to nowhere. When she spoke, it was barely a horrified whisper.

"You ever seen Terminator 2? Connor's dream? I saw _that_ …Only…It was real…"

Luminus' face dropped. At first there was hints of confusion, but soon… soon he understood. Soon he twigged. Soon he realised _exactly_ what kind of horrors it was that Livewire had just seen. But neither of them had a chance to react any further. Because in that moment, the doors to the corridor suddenly burst open. In that moment, Mercy Graves burst her way back towards them. Only she paused immediately in that doorway.

Livewire's first thought was that Mercy knew, that she knew that she'd been messing around in the grid, that she'd been spying on what she was doing. There was certainly a look on Mercy's face, an emotion that had overcome her. But then, a moment later, Livewire realised that that emotion wasn't anger, as it should have been. It was remorse. It was despair. It was grief. It was horror.

Exactly the same kind of horror that Livewire herself was feeling.

"I'm sorry…" Mercy suddenly said, sounding as if she was on the verge of tears. She also sounded resigned, scared, yet oddly determined. And also clutching tight to something behind her back. Something was even less right here than Livewire had thought… "I'm sorry, but I can't let you do it…"

"Do what…?" Luminus asked straight away, confused. But Livewire knew that the question wasn't directed at him. It was directed at her.

And so was the gun that Mercy suddenly raised.

There wasn't time to talk. Mercy hesitated, but not by much. Something had happened in that room, something she had seen before what Livewire had seen. Something that had made her compelled to do something she clearly didn't want to have to do. And that something was to come for the kill. To kill _her_. Straight away, Livewire could tell; for Mercy there was no backing down. Which left Livewire only one choice. _Run_.

That moment of hesitation was all she had. With the long, narrow corridor leaving her no protection, there was also only one real way out. The exact same power socket she'd just been dabbling in. And so, Livewire turned her entire being to energy, moving to get clear into the power lines.

But as the bang ripped through the corridor, it was left a race – electricity against the bullet.

And the bullet won.

But not before Livewire had gotten herself turned completely to energy. That should have been enough. Becoming noncorporeal should have left have invulnerable to the physical death-bringer. It did anything but.

As Livewire hit the floor, she was solid again. All as a result of that bullet's hit. But even worse, there was a hole in her shoulder, right where the bullet had hit her mass of electrical power. A hole not only leaking blood, but huge swathes of sparks, the very flesh around it rippling as if it was overloading, beginning to tear itself apart…

In between her scream of pain, Livewire's eyes fell on Graves, still stood at the end of the corridor. Still stood with her gun pointed straight at her. The gun, Livewire suddenly realised, that had no doubt fired bullets specially designed by Lex Luthor to take her out…Because she could feel it. Her entire matrix was already threatening to break down. _Was_ breaking down. _Would_ break down if she didn't stop it fast. If she _could_ stop it…And while the look on Graves' face remained apologetic, it was also clear in its threat.

Graves wanted Livewire dead. End of. And this time, she didn't hesitate before pulling the trigger all over again.

Livewire braced for the end. Expecting a bullet to rip through her head, she flinched. One would have done too, if it wasn't for the hard-light shield.

Panting in fear where she had collapsed, Livewire looked up to see Luminus, his control box active to create the barrier between them and Mercy.

He still hadn't realised…He still thought it was about both of them. Maybe he even still thought this was all about the money… As Livewire tried to push herself up, tried to regain enough strength and energy to move, he proved as much.

"Graves, what are you doing! We gave you the droid, and you try and kill us?!"

"This isn't about the droid!" Mercy howled. Once again though, Livewire could see in Mercy's eyes where her focus lay. Once again, Luminus was nowhere near it. Desperately, she tried to snap her fingers again, to give herself the spark before it was too late... "This is about saving everything we have! I can't let you destroy it all!"

And with that, Mercy fired again. Only this time, the shot wasn't aimed Livewire's way. It was aimed at Luminus. And immediately, he hurled up another hard light barricade to get in its way.

But it had only been a distraction. Luminus' barricades may form at the speed of light, but his mind couldn't work that fast. He couldn't predict Mercy's next move until she made it. Which meant that, as she lined the gun immediately back Livewire's way the instant the trigger had been pulled, Luminus was out of the game. This time, she was on her own.

But this time, thanks to Lumnius' distraction, Livewire had managed to spark herself into motion just in time. The sound of crackling energy reverberated around the corridor mere fractions before the final bang of the gun. And Livewire didn't look back, even as she felt the bullet moving the air mere breaths away from where her form had just been moments before…

She didn't look back as she fled into the power lines.

She didn't look back as she kept on fleeing.

Fleeing from the horrors that had left Graves so resolute that she had to die…

* * *

" _No_!" Mercy howled as she watched the last of that energy disappear into the socket in the wall. As she watched the last bits of Livewire escape her. Escape retribution.

As she watched her chance to avert disaster fade away…

But as she stared aghast at the socket, she'd lost focus. Which meant she didn't see the block of solid hard-light coming until it was too late, until it was already slamming into her torso. She was sent flying backwards, the gun equally sent flying from her hand. She grimaced, the yelp of pain bursting from her as she was suddenly pinned between hard-light and wall, her chest feeling like it was being crushed. But it was nothing compared to the feeling of failure…

"I should crush you like a bug right now!" Luminus howled, the fool _still_ thinking this even involved him. He was stepping forward, closer to her, hand still on his control box for the light projection. His face a picture of rage, only now did Mercy turn her eyes off that socket to face him. "You think you can scam us? You'd _kill_ us to avoid paying half a 'finder's fee'?"

"Its…not what you think…you _idiot_ …" Mercy groaned out through the crushing compression Luminus was still putting on her.

"Then what is it? Huh? _Tell me!_ " Luminus absolutely howled the words, flecks of spit even flying at Mercy's face as he lost control. But she never got the chance to answer. The beeping sound saw to that, coming from the device in Mercy's pocket. "Wait…what is that?"

It was lucky it wasn't crushed by the hard-light. It was lucky it had gone off when it had. But as soon as it did, and despite the save, Mercy knew it was bad news that it had gone off at all.

Luminus eased off the hard-light just enough to allow her to move her hand, to drop one into that pocket and bring the device out for him to see. With a gesture, he made it clear to her to move her hand slow; no tricks or he would crush the life out of her. Eventually, she got the smart device raised up level with her head, the screen held out to face him.

And on it, plain as day, the alert flashing bright red, she showed him that they were no longer alone.

"That means that they've found us," she snarled at him. "The Justice League…They're coming for their droid, and they found us."

" _You lead them here_?!" Luminus was becoming irrational, still so full of rage.

"Of course not!" Mercy shouted him down with as much breath as her lungs could spare. "I'm not a fool. But we've only one chance if we want to get out of here. You need to go slow them down. Intercept them while I get the droid clear. Without it, they've got nothing. Without it, they're just _trespassing_."

Luminus simply stared at her at first, such daggers in his eyes. A ferocity that would only serve him well if he turned it on whichever of the Earth's heroes were heading their way. A fact Mercy was very keen to remind him of.

"Do you want to go back to prison?!" she howled at him, giving him the kind of kick up the backside he clearly needed, using every bit of authority she could muster. "Get out there! We can regroup to finish this conversation later. _You were never my target_. I _did not_ betray _you_. but there won't be a later if we don't move! _Go!_ "

It took him another second to think about it, but eventually Mercy felt the pressure on her ribs begin to fade and then disappear entirely as, with a twist of his control box, Luminus made the hard-light disappear.

"Fine," he growled, though clearly still none too happy about it. "I'll take care of 'em. And you can _bet_ we'll be talking some more. But I want double for this. You have it ready!"

"Lytener, if you keep the League off my back long enough that I can get that droid out of here, I'll give you triple!" Mercy reacted. "Now go! They won't be waiting around out there, _go_!"

Finally, he did. Slowly backing away at first, he eventually spun and sprinted away down the corridor. Mercy even saw him already activating the control box for his hard-light projections, but didn't stop to see what it was he was creating. Because she was also already on the move, twisting to head back through the door through which she'd emerged, to the robot that had started this all.

She had to get it clear. She couldn't let the League take it back. It represented too much power, too much truth. She needed it. She needed what it could bring to her.

Not least of all the knowledge of where Livewire had just gone. It wasn't over yet. She could still stop her.

She could still stop Livewire from destroying everything.

* * *

They rematerialised into the still air, the Metropolis sun beating down on them. Mercy had chosen her location well. A largely abandoned commercial district on the furthest outskirts of the city, with just enough other activity that her team's presence wouldn't raise questions but not enough for a realistic risk of prying eyes. It was a smart move. Too smart. It was one of the things that had made Batman know that this was the place. The other factors he'd dug up in the paper trail only proved it.

But that didn't mean he knew exactly what to expect when they got inside. Which was why he was immediately throwing an arm up to block Booster's path as the naïve fool began marching straight towards the building. Lightning fast reactions, Booster walked straight into the arm and was already being held back before he stopped to let himself think. And even then, it was just to ask the question.

"What? What's wrong? Isn't that the place?"

Batman slowly swivelled his head to glare at Booster all over again. "You really haven't done this very often have you? Not enough headlines without a crowd cheering you on?"

"I… _hey_!" Booster protested, taking a second to notice the barb sent his way. "Come _on_! When was the last time you heard me talking about fame? Well…other than the other week, when I got a little obsessed with the 80s musical… but that was different and you _know it_!"

Batman only made an unintelligible grunt, but one with a clear meaning. He was far from convinced. As far as he was concerned, Booster had burnt those bridges early on in his career with the League. A few weeks of going unnoticed wasn't the antidote for months of obnoxious self-importance. Booster, though, wasn't quite done just yet.

"I mean, maybe you'd have _noticed_ that I'm not the guy you think I am if you weren't always sticking me out the way on crowd control…"

Batman's head spun round fast, the glare back in full, only this time his finger pointed right in Booster's face. He was in no mood for his attitude. "Let me make one thing clear. You are going to do exactly what I say in there, when I say it. I will help you get back your droid before Graves can cause too much damage. And you are not going to say another _word_ unless it helps us finish the job quicker. Only _afterwards_ are you and I going to have this talk, where you will not like what I have to say. Is that understood?"

At first Booster only nodded, taking the command for silence literally. That was enough to make Batman lower his finger and finally explain. It also happened to be exactly what he wanted.

"Good. Now follow my lead. Step where I step when we're inside. This is one of Lex Luthor's old domains, and we know at least two super criminals are inside. We tread carefully. We stay alert. And we keep our heads calm."

"Good advice from the guy who just bit my head off for something I didn't even do…"

Booster had muttered the words under his breath. They were clearly not meant to be heard, only said at all because he clearly couldn't help himself. But they were heard. Batman had to take back his earlier thought. Diana owed him one _hell_ of a lot for this.

But just as he was turning to glare and chew Booster out all over again, the crashing noise erupted to stop both men in their tracks. To make both men look straight back up at Graves' building ahead of them.

In a normal life, another time, before the age of heroes and villains, the sight before them would have been remarkable. Now, it only summed up the mind of a madman.

For Luminus had arrived, and his intent was clear. He had come for a fight, and he was coming with shock and awe. For he hadn't just walked out the front door. He had smashed his way through. Courtesy of a hard-light construct of an angry Triceratops.

Madman indeed.

"Batman!" Luminus declared at the sight of him. It sounded like he had been expecting to see someone else, or perhaps hoping. Metropolis and Superman did go hand in hand, and Luminus had more than shown his contempt for both. But he also sounded like he had more hope in the here and now as a result. Batman only smirked.

"I'll han–!" Booster began to boastfully declare, stepping forward ready for the fight but once again Batman stretched an arm out to palm him off. This time he didn't even give Booster the glare, his focus staying forward to the madman and his stomping dinosaur.

"And of course, the man from the future," Luminus continued to foolishly gloat. As he did so, he reached down to the hard-light control box at his hip twisting it like a dial. Moments later, with a flash of light more constructs appeared, more humungous creatures of all shapes, sizes and times crammed in around him. More creatures that looked heavy, and ready to stampede all in their path. Luminus had sold out his own plan before he even gave the command. "Charge!"

Batman's hand had been ready for the grapnel before the constructs had even fully formed. As soon as Luminus said the words he had it fired towards the rooftop of the building behind Luminus' head. With just the flip of the switch, it was reeling him hard and fast into the air, the exact same moment those 'creatures' obeyed their master.

The thunder of footsteps was incredible, the weight being slammed onto the asphalt. But while the Triceratops arched its head in an effort to stab the flying Batman with its horns, it had been too slow. One horn pierced and tore his cape, but Batman twisted his body to stay out of the way.

Booster, though, had other ideas. The blast of gold energy was the first Batman knew of it, having expected Booster to do the obvious and just fly above the stampede too. Because while his blast managed to reduce the Triceratops to mere photons and did nothing to stop the rest of the hard-light horde. There simply wasn't time. Daring only the merest of glances back, Batman saw Booster hit by the stampede, knocked immediately to the ground. Trampled. It was a good job his suit gave him endurance. It was a shame it hadn't given him smarts.

But Batman couldn't worry about Booster. Luminus was the key. And so, barely a breath later, his eyes were back on the villain. Still reeling in on the grapnel line, his free hand was back at his belt. He had the right device in hand without even looking, his eyes firmly on Luminus. He needed that fix to perfect his aim. Because the next second, he threw.

Luminus saw it coming. As soon as his creatures had charged his eyes had followed Batman's rise instead of Booster's fall. It meant he saw Batman throw, he saw the device flying straight in at his head. It meant that he was able to put up the temporary wall of light to block the device and send it crashing harmlessly to the floor at his feet. It meant he looked up gloatingly as Batman released the grapnel line and landed back in the street now mere metres away from him, well out of reach of the beasts.

"Did you really think you'd take me down that easily?" Luminus crowed, twisting the dials on his control box to make his wall topple on top of Batman's device, as if to show his superiority. But he had played right into Batman's hands. Batman didn't have to do a thing. He merely stood to his fullest height, and waited for things to happen.

"Yes."

He didn't have to wait for long. The delay on the device had been set just long enough to catch opponents out. The localised electromagnetic pulse. So localised, in fact, its bubble was only large enough to capture one man. One man, and all the electronic technology on his person. Including the control box generating all the hard-light creatures and the only thing making Luminus any kind of threat.

The sound was anticlimactic in itself, no visual explosion as the pulse issued other than a momentary, faint blue light. But what followed was everything. Batman didn't even turn to look as all the creatures still assaulting Booster disappeared as the Triceratops had before. Even the lit piping on Luminus' suit suddenly all faded. But best of all, was the look on his face, the understanding of what had just happened.

And the fear of what was to happen next.

Desperately Luminus' hand dropped back to the control box. Desperately it began turning the dials, as if that alone could reactivate it, as if the hard-light would suddenly come back to save him. And then desperately he turned as if to run as he saw Batman encroaching upon him.

He didn't even get to twist his body all the way around.

One punch was all it took. One solid blow right into the side of Luminus' jaw, and he was down. Not only down, but out. Cold. Kicking at where he'd slumped, Batman rolled Luminus over with his foot to be sure. Always so boastful, the man had the potential to have the same power level as the Green Lanterns, perhaps even more so. Yet his ego, emotion and his idiocy in the face of what really mattered always made him an easy mark. Just as with so many of the lesser so-called super-criminals.

Still scowling down at Luminus' unconscious form, Batman put one finger to his ear to activate his comm. "Batman to Watchtower. I've captured Luminus. I need you to transport him up there ready for handover to the authorities."

The form below him sparkled into white light before any voice came back over the line, disappeared before the second syllable was uttered by a familiar voice up there in the control centre. "We've got him Batman. And Livewire?"

"She won't be far behind," Batman answered her. Diana would never completely walk away from a situation that needed her. Even though he'd taken this one, she was keeping her eye on things up there. Or maybe precisely _because_ he'd taken it… Either way, he knew the feeling exactly. Even if he hadn't the time to stop and thank her. Still, he could have sworn he saw her smile, even so many thousands of miles away. "Batman out."

With that, he allowed his gaze to drift upwards, towards the building with the smashed open entranceway and to what lay beyond. As he did so, another figure walked up next to him. Batman did not need to properly look to see Booster standing there, twisting his head and pulling at his joints as he overcame the trampling of the light.

"You alright?" Batman growled, still only facing ahead. That caught Booster out, his head jerking to stare, open mouthed.

"I didn't know you cared…" was all he could utter at first. "I mean…my pride's bent. And my feelings will take months to get over the savage bashing you gave them. But otherwise I'm a bit achy, but I'll live."

"Good," Batman bluntly returned, finally glancing Booster's way. "Then maybe now you'll learn to listen to what I say. Now come on. We still have to stop Graves but she escapes with your droid."

* * *

She had to assume it was safe, that there'd be no feedback loop or mass system shutdown or some other fancy words as a result. Because if she didn't try, then there was no hope. She had to escape, to get out of there, and there was no way she was leaving that droid behind.

Mercy pulled out every wire that Luminus had plugged into Skeets with an unceremonious wrench. As she did, she kept her ears open. She'd heard the crash, the initial noise that left her in no doubt that Luminus had begun to engage the Justice League. As she worked, she even kept glancing over her shoulder, down that corridor towards him.

She _could_ still use him. To open up the droid. And more importantly, so long as she could track her down, to help stop Livewire before it was too late. But for that to work, he'd have to singlehandedly beat the League…

No, Mercy knew how these things went far too well. Against an unsuspecting Booster Gold, sure, Luminus and Livewire had succeeded. But now, when it was the League on the front foot… No, now he was nothing more than a sacrificial lamb. Now all she could realistically use Luminus for was as a distraction to buy her the time she needed to escape.

Which was why, grabbing the droid under her arm like it was a rugby ball, Mercy could only look the other way. The back door. The secret way out. She could only think of escaping for herself. Everything else would have to follow.

But she'd barely made it a few steps when it issued. The robotic voice. Not the one she'd heard on the video recordings she'd studied when planning all of this, not the droid's normal tones. But a more base message, as if from the core programming before its developed personality.

"zzzDiagnostics complete. All self-repair programmes successfully ran. Security protocols re-enabled."

"Oh no…" Mercy muttered to herself. She hadn't expected that, but she knew what it could mean. Even while figuring out what she had to do, the droid's photoreceptor began to really glow red again as it started coming back on line, even with an open hole still in its back. And unsurprisingly, it wasn't happy.

Unsurprisingly, the droid fought back. With a tazer-like zap, it electrified its skin. And sent every jolt into Mercy's. It wasn't crippling, but it did bloody hurt. Enough to make her screen and drop the droid from her hold.

Almost as soon as it was out of her grasp, Mercy regained the control of her muscles. Barely had she silenced her own yelp of pain than she was snatching out her hand trying to catch the little git all over again. But, now free of her hold, its small jets had kicked back in. Under its own power the droid flew, up to head height and several metres back, dodging her snatching hand as it went. For a second it paused there, as if rediscovering its surroundings after waking up from a long sleep. The next moment though, it turned as if to flee down the corridor, towards the heroes that were coming to its rescue.

The bullet stopped it in its tracks. The droid wasn't hit, it was just a warning shot, slamming into the door close to where the droid hovered. But it did its job.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Mercy told it, finding it hard to believe she was actually talking to a machine, let alone treating it almost like it were human. Still, she gestured at her gun with her eyes, just as she would have had it been alive. "I only need what's in your processors, not the rest of you. Its easier on me to take you whole, but I can get what I need even if I smash the rest of you apart. And believe me. I am a bloody good shot."

The droid just hovered there, spinning its processor to face between her and the open doorway but not actually moving. As if a human looking both ways to make its decision, thinking things through. But the droid didn't think. It was a machine, a tool, an automaton programmed to do only what it had been told to do. And every second it wasted only pissed Mercy off.

Which was why she wasn't prepared to wait around for it to act. Keeping her gun on it, she began walking towards it, closing the distance as it still hung in the air. She'd never admit it, but in that moment she wished she had powers like Livewire's, for exactly the reasons she'd hired Livewire in the first place, to drop that droid like a stone. But this would have to do. Her free hand outstretched, Mercy made to grab it, to make the droid's decision for it.

Soon, she could practically feel the cold metal on her fingertips once more…

But the next moment, all she felt was the taser-like zap as the droid sent another jolt through her flesh.

The muscles in her arm contracting involuntarily, the droid took its chance. It moved, flying off down that corridor like its life depended on it. Because it did.

"Son of a–!" Mercy howled, straightening back up again and driving forwards towards that open doorway after the droid. Even before she rounded it the gun was raised, ready to fire as soon as she had the shot. As soon as she saw the tiniest fleck of gold, her finger began to squeeze the trigger.

But the bullet never made it out of the gun. For it wasn't the droid she had seen as that first glistening speck of gold. It had been a bolt of pure energy. A bolt wide enough to form a wall. A wall that reached her just as the bullet was trying to leave the chamber, trapping it inside. A wall that kept on going.

A wall that slammed into her, and sent her flying off her feet.

* * *

She was knocked back for far enough. Flying backwards, eventually she crashed down against the floor, leaving his energy blast clear to careen into the banks of servers behind her. In a shower of sparks those machines imploded, Mercy doused in the heat.

But she was alive, and truth be told Booster didn't care anymore than that. Finally, he lowered his arm as the blast ceased, and then he could at last turn to the small golden lump now hovering right by his side.

" _Skeets_!" he called out in a release of both relief and joy. Even as he said it, he was flinging himself forward, apparently catching the droid off guard as he wrapped it up in his arms for a tight hug. He didn't care if it was just a floating tin can, Skeets was his friend! Still, he recoiled as soon as his hands went into an empty hole of wires and circuit boards… "Buddy, what happened?!"

"I lost a little weight…" Skeets quipped. He _quipped_! A droid who'd just had his backside ripped off, and he was still telling jokes! No wonder Booster liked him… "But I don't think the diet plan was really for me. Boy am I glad you showed up when you did. How did you find me?"

"I…er…" Booster began but couldn't finish, not at first. Instead, his eyes naturally rested on Batman. The Dark Knight had immediately stepped forward too, only his target had been Mercy. Alright he was on her. Literally. His knee was in her spine keeping her pinned as he knelt over her. A set of handcuffs extracted from that infinite belt of his, he was even binding her wrists behind her back there, making her capture secure. But despite all that, he still looked up at Booster with a knowing scowl over that question. And it made Booster finally able to answer. "I had a little help. Alright, a _lot_ of help."

"To do what?! Don't you realise what you've both _done_?"

That voice had caught him out. Booster had been so smug in their victory, he'd just automatically assumed she wouldn't say a word. But Mercy had just smashed that thought apart. Her eyes were up, a forceful look on her face, a look that meant business. And, with enough intrigue in her words, Batman was clearly prepared to give her her say. Practically dragging her up to her knees by the handcuffs, he was soon looking her right in the eyes as Booster and Skeets watched on.

"What does that mean? What are doing here?"

There was a hesitation to Mercy then, almost as if there was doubt as to whether she should tell them, whether the first emotional outburst had been right. Of course, she was probably scared of playing her hand, of saying something which could later be used as evidence. But it seemed the emotion won out in the end.

And as she spoke, Booster could only understand why.

"Because of what I saw! What that droid showed me… _The future_. The _imminent_ future. I tried to stop her, but she got away… We _have_ to stop her! Livewire. You don't know what she's about to do…

"All those people…The cities. The towns, villages. The entire Gulf contaminated for centuries. Infrastructure gone forever. _Your own heroes_ …The Atom. Captain Atom. _Wonder Woman_ … All dead.

"That new Solar Nucleosynthesis Fusion Plant down near the border, the one with the force of who knows how many A-bombs? The one that has the radioactive force of an entire miniature _star_ …

"Livewire's going to blow it up. And take everyone and everything near it straight to hell!"

The energy rippled through the overhead wires as the early evening sun burned down from above. The sound of sparking gently coursed through the still air as it reached the latest pylon in its path. But unlike all the other power passing through the line, this energy didn't keep moving down the wires. It stopped. It stopped to look around. And then, with no sign of life anywhere near the pylon, it proceeded down. Away from the cables. Down the pylon itself and towards the earthen ground.

The land round there was dusty, the grass that grew threw dry and coarse. In the near distance, the gentle lapping of the sea against the coast sounded, just audible over the hum of manmade power. Between the grass field and the sea, the road was still. Perhaps soon activity would increase, but for now the nearby hub was fully manned, and there was no other reason to travel this road other than to reach the station at its end.

Which was her objective exactly.

As the rippling energy reached the base of the pylon, it kept on going. But the non-conducting earth forced the change. For as the energy began to touch the ground, it became no longer the ripple. It became a foot, then another, then legs. Then torso, arms, the head with the brazen blue hair. It became her physical form all over again.

Complete with the still sparking hole in her shoulder. The hole that was causing her tremendous pain. The hole that was overloading her entire matrix from within…

She had to stop it. She had to undo whatever it was that Graves had done to her. Whatever that bullet had been laced with, it was far from ordinary. But she was no physician, no _physicist_. She didn't know how to fix what had been done. She only had one idea. To purge the energy that was in her system, to wash out every bit of her conductive matrix that now formed her being, every last bit that had been contaminated by Graves, and to replace it with new energy. To rebuild herself from scratch.

But to do that, she'd need a hell of a lot of power. She'd need an energy source to make her own, one far bigger than she'd ever needed before. This was much, much more than any mere recharge. A simply hydro-electric plant wouldn't do…

She didn't know where she was going, she had simply followed her instincts. The impulses of her electrons as they jostled with the rest of the power in mains lines. And somehow, for some reason, those instincts had been telling her to come here, that this was where she had to be. That this was the only place powerful enough to save her.

And as she stood there, she saw the sign. The sign on that nearby road, declaring the heavy guarded and maintained facility was just a few more miles down the road, warning those who had no business there not to proceed. But it was a warning she ignored.

 _The Dyson-Bodman Solar Nucleosynthesis Fusion Plant_.

That was where Livewire had to be. That was the answer to all of this.

That was where the corruption would end. Where her future would start anew.

That was the source of all power…

That was where she'd relight the spark.

And where all of this would end.

* * *

 ** _A/N:_**

 ** _Its Coming Home..._**


	4. 3: Time and Again

_**A/N:**_

* * *

 _ **It may be late, but its still here! Day 3 of #WonderBatMilestones, as decreed.**_

 _ **Just a warning while we're here though, Day 4 won't be out for a while. Not even managed to get started on it yet, and its not something I can crack out in a couple of hours. But while it won't be out during the main week, it will be coming soon. It'll just end up being more like Day 14...**_

 _ **Anyways, enough of that drivel, you're hear because you want to be reading stories! So here we go...**_

 _ **Its time to shape the future...**_

* * *

 **3: Time and Again**

The light faded, leaving only the form of the captured and bound Mercy Graves on that teleporter pad. But she wasn't alone there long. Soon Vigilante and Captain Atom had stepped forward, steering her away to the temporary holding bays until they could arrange for transportation to Strykers. But with every step she took, Mercy was yelling at the top of her lungs.

Yelling like the end was nigh.

"I'm going to find out exactly what's happening," the voice echoed out in her comm, leaving Wonder Woman blocking out Mercy's calls. If nothing else, Bruce had definitely earnt her trust a lot more. His take on this was the one Diana would go by. But regardless, the situation was clear. Something major was about to go down. "But it's imperative you don't react until I find out how we can stop it. We can't risk re-enacting the timeline as it was before. I need you to observe, but not to go in."

It took her a moment to react. Across the raised platform, Wonder Woman could already see Steel looking out over scans of the Fusion Plant, keeping close watch. Already she could see him looking at it like something wasn't entirely right. And while she was no nuclear scientist or engineer, she knew enough to know to be worried if things went wrong down there. Which was why being told to sit back and do nothing but watch those scans potentially get a whole lot worse was so hard to take.

"Diana, I need to hear you say it. Promise me you won't go in until I give the word."

That did it… She'd made it clear to him before not to try and force her out of the front lines to protect her. He had given his word over that. Now, after all they'd been through, after all they had together, she trusted him not to break that promise. And so she was compelled to tell him what he wanted to hear.

"You have my word, Batman. But hurry. If that Plant is in trouble…"

She didn't have to say the rest. The millions in the area. The billions who could be impacted by the fallout. It spoke for itself.

"I'll be as fast as I can. Be ready. Batman out."

With that the comm clicked silent, and Diana's hand dropped from her ear. Instinctively she looked over at Steel, as he continued to monitor everything, diving through all manner of different scans, readouts, schematics, as if just watching would help him find something that could help. That could make sense of Mercy's warning. That could let them understand what was really going on, how and why.

As she did, the soft footsteps for one so large sounded, the blue and red coming into view in the corner of her eyes. Diana spun slightly to see as Superman stepped up beside her.

"I heard Mercy's shouts. Tell me he has a plan."

Clark didn't mess around. He got straight to the point. He could have been the other side of the world and heard what was going on, so of course he was now stepping up to the mark with the rest of them. His face alone showed how serious this was. But his words also showed that Diana wasn't the only one who had placed her trust in Bruce.

"Not yet," she answered him. "But he's working on it."

* * *

"You have to tell me _exactly_ what happens."

He barely heard those words. He'd barely registered anything after Graves had revealed what she'd seen. Not properly. He'd seen her beam away, he'd heard Batman on the comm, but he hadn't really taken any of it in.

The Fusion Plant. That's what Graves had said. Livewire, somehow, was going to destroy the Solar Nucleosynthesis Fusion Plant. Including everything and everyone near it. And soon.

The same Fusion Plant where Tracy would by now have arrived at…

Mercy had told them Tracy was going to die.

"We have to stop it…" Booster muttered to himself, but as he spoke, his words gained more vigour, more speed. More desperation. "I have to warn them… We have to get the people out! Skeets, we have to save them!"

" _Booster!_ "

Hearing his name so forcefully shouted finally made him stop. He hadn't even realised he'd been pacing up and down, hand on his head, until the shout made him look up. He was still in that server room. Skeets was still by his side, hole and all.

And Batman was still there too, stood to his fullest height, but having hardly moved from the spot where he'd captured Mercy. Seeing Booster looking at him, Batman repeated his point.

"Tell me what happens here. Exactly what happens. _Then_ , we can stop it."

"I…" Booster began to say, the word creeping out of him almost out of reflex. People had often said his mouth worked faster than his brain. In that moment, it was a saying definitely proving to be true. Eventually, all he could do was look at Batman and shake his head. "I can't…"

"You _can't_?!"

"I can't because I don't know!" Booster quickly burst out with explanation, the sheer ferocity in Batman's voice forcing him to. Now he knew how all those criminals felt when facing his shadow… "I _don't know_ it! I'm… Well you of all people should know, I'm not the smartest guy around. I may have come from the future, I may have worked in the damn Museum of Superheroes, but I know next to nothing about what happens between now and then! I didn't come here to change things… I came _here_ , to this time…because I thought it was cool…And because I wanted to be just like the rest of you guys…"

Batman only continued to glare, Booster's eyes dropping towards the ground in shame. He meant what he'd said though. He hadn't studied the history. Sure, he'd heard stories, but he'd never really listened. Not the fine details, not to things that actually happened. He had just listened to fill his imagination. He had listened enough to allow him to dream, not to study.

And he hadn't come back to the past to change it. He'd come here only to live it…

But now…Tracy…

"Skeets!" he blurted out, looking first up at Batman again and then spun to reach out to the droid hovering just behind his shoulder. Why didn't he think of it straight away…? Already this must be playing on his mind! No wonder Batman was preaching for calm before they charged in… "Skeets knows all of it! Don't you buddy?! All the headlines, all the juicy details they still had access to in the 25th century! They put it all into his memory banks so that he could be the perfect tour guide round the Museum!"

"Which is why Graves wanted to capture him in the first place," Batman nodded in expansion, clearly having heard nothing he hadn't already known. "And he's already shown at least part of what happened to her. Make him show me now. Show me all of it."

"Make him…?" Booster was confused. Skeets wasn't his property, he was his friend… Why wouldn't he be ready to do so voluntarily…?

Batman, though, clearly didn't want to stop and explain himself to Booster. Instead, with a sigh, he turned his head ever so slightly to address Skeets directly instead., sounding more than a little awkward in the process " _Skeets_ …The playback of the Nucleosynthesis Plant disaster, the event you showed to Graves. Show _us_ , now."

Booster stared at Skeets, ready for his holoprojector to activate, ready for the images to appear. Ready to figure out how to change the what had happened to what must happen. A thin smile had dared to creep over his lips in that hope. However, as Skeets spoke, it was a smile that was soon fading back into the fear.

"You were right, Batman. I'm afraid I cannot do that."

"You _can't_?!"

Once again, the words escaped him before he realised it, Booster never even twigging that he had just echoed Batman's line from mere moments before. His mouth was even hung open in shock as he stared, amazed. And not for good reasons. Why wouldn't Skeets want to help people…?

"I'm sorry, Booster. But I cannot play the footage. Not now."

"But why not?" Booster pressed, voice even cracking slightly. "You showed Graves…!"

"Miss Graves and her accomplices corrupted my security protocols, overriding them to gain access. It was all I could do to limit her to the one historical record. Believe me, I did not want to show her even that. It's too dangerous. I have to protect those you care for."

"'Those you care for'?" Batman repeated the line, stepping forward to stare menacingly at Booster again, as if this was all his fault. "And what does he mean by that?"

Booster could only nervously look back at the droid, avoiding those white lenses gouging deep into his soul as if his life depended on it. "Skeets…?"

"The future, Booster," Skeets gave the answer. "Our future. The time we came from. The people we left behind. Your family. Michelle. I can't show you what happens here in the past, as otherwise I'd be endangering the future. The people you love."

"But…but…" Booster spluttered, a too common occurrence right now. What was going on?! "But I don't–!"

"The butterfly effect."

Finally, Booster dared look back Batman's way at the sound of that growl. Batman's reaction to Booster seemed to have softened – _slightly_. Instead, a dawn of understanding had crossed him, something Booster was most definitely jealous of.

"The simplest action – as small as a butterfly flapping its wings – that deviates from the set course of history can have drastic consequences on the future. The bigger the incident, the more likely and the more drastic the change. The droid is saying that the explosion happened in our time and, if it _doesn't_ , your time could be significantly altered."

"Like, _how_ significantly?" Booster said it with somewhat of a whimper. Sure, the temporal laws of the 25th century were designed with these sorts of things in mind, hypothetical scenarios designed to protect the timeline, but Booster had shown his wanton ignorance and disregard for all such things the moment he'd activated the Time Sphere. Now, now that he was being forced to face them, he got why those were there.

Now he was scared.

"Considering we're talking four hundred years of events, and something as sizeable as the obliteration of the Gulf coast, the entire fabric of your timeline could be replaced. People may live when they would have died, died when they had lived. And others still might never be born. _Everything_ could change. Everything will change."

Everything… Booster may not have cared for the time he came from anymore, but _everything_ was still kind of a big deal. Livewire was threatening millions of lives, but what Batman was talking about, it would kill _billions_ … Every last person who had been alive in the future Booster knew, all effectively killed, replaced by someone new. Billions of lives potentially wiped out.

Including Shel…

"But…ah, but wait!" Booster suddenly exclaimed, sticking a finger up to emphasise the point, an idea having just struck him that was much more pleasant than the rest. "We're still here, Skeets and me! And we've been here a few years now! If everything we've done in this time was changing the future, if it'd stop me ever being born, surely we'd have disappeared long ago!"

"I'm sorry Booster, but the Time Sphere protected that," Skeets explained, almost making Booster jump as the robotic voice spoke behind him again. It didn't help that the one hope he'd just found was being shot down in flames. "Its unique design guarded us against the Paradox, shielded us and locked us into our current time zone. We won't disappear. But the future will. I've been protecting it for you since the moment we arrived in this time, keeping events on course with history. If I stop now, you'll lose everything."

"And if he doesn't show us what happens, chances are you'll lose everything here," Batman was quick to step in, stressing the point. "For some reason, the droid listens to you. Its doing this because it thinks this is what you want. That puts the choice on you, Booster. Those lives are in your hands. You can save them. Just give it the order to show us how."

Booster put both his hands on his now bowed head, having to take a step away from both of them. His head was starting to hurt. He didn't like this… Billions lives of that could… Millions that _would_ … Shel…or Tracy… And it was all on him!

"Everyone dies sometime…" he muttered to himself. He was desperate for some justification, some source of reason to make the answer obvious. Even as he said the words though, he didn't know who he was talking about…or _when_. But just as before, Batman showed he was always paying attention, hearing the words that weren't meant for him.

" _Sometime_ ," he repeated, putting so much emphasis on the word the meaning was already clear. "But it doesn't have to be today. Today, we can save millions of people. We can avert a disaster of disproportional consequences. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Of course, it does!" Booster immediately looked up again, pain evident in his voice. "Of course! No matter what you think of me, I'm not a bad man! I don't want people to suffer, to _die_. But everyone _does_ die. Those people were all gone centuries before I was born. _You_ were gone centuries before I was born. But those people in the future…"

"Were lost to you the moment you travelled back to our time," Batman quickly interjected. "Any doubts you have are simply protecting an idea, a memory. And believe me when I say I know how tempting such a thought may be. But it is _wrong_! Right here, right now, in _this_ time, you can make a difference! You can protect the people who need you most! You can be the hero you dreamt of being the moment you first put on that suit…"

"Shel also dreamed of being a hero…"

Batman's point was valid, more than valid. Boy, Booster wanted to say the words Batman wanted to hear. A large part of him _had_ to. But there was doubt. There was doubt because Booster had never entirely abandoned the future. He hadn't admitted it before, not even to himself, but in his heart, he had always thought of it as home. He had always thought he'd go back there when his adventuring days were done. He'd always thought he'd see his loved ones again, the world he knew, be back in that world. The world forged by people who could all soon cease to ever exist…

And every time he thought of doing what Batman so desperately wanted, his mind went back to the sister he loved so dearly…and who he could be about to wipe from all history.

"But what would she say if she knew you were about to let millions of innocent people die?"

Those words stabbed hard, hitting Booster right in his heart. It was a good job his visor hid it from view, because a tear had formed in the corner of his eye. Still, Skeets must have noticed how Booster was feeling. If anyone could, it was him. And while Batman was right that Skeets would almost certainly obey whatever Booster asked of him in that room, the little droid was also persistent in its point.

"There's no guarantee we can save them, Booster. I can only show you what did happen. I can't show you how to stop it. There's no guarantee that whatever we try next doesn't simply contribute to the disaster in the same way as Graves' assault on Livewire before you arrived. Only in attempting to stop it, you would get caught in the blast too. I can't let any harm come to you Booster. Not if I can help it."

Batman's eyes widened at that. The gun Graves had dropped was still in the room. He notably hadn't wanted to even pick the thing up, but now his eyes were falling upon it. From his utility belt, he was quickly drawing some sort of device, a device he was immediately scanning over it. Booster couldn't help but watch on in fascination, if only to try and buy himself more time to think. To choose…

"Ionised bullets," Batman growled, Skeets jerking backwards as if realising he'd just given away some of his precious information without realising it. "Graves was using ionised bullets designed to interfere with the flow of electrical current, with the potential to cause intense discharges…She saw what would happen, and she tried to prevent it. She's poisoned Livewire's matrix, overloading her. Which might mean that Livewire isn't going to the Fusion Plant _intending_ to destroy anything…"

"What I mean to say is, the only way to be sure to protect lives is to do nothing," Skeets quickly spoke again, as if wanting to distract Batman's train of thought. Or maybe to stop it influencing Booster's… "If we were to influence things beyond acceptable limits, our history could unfold in a way other than it already has. Everything we know and love would be lost forever, Booster."

 _Everyone except Simmons_ … This time Booster managed to stop the words slipping out audibly, but they definitely crossed his mind. Just as Shel had before, now Simmons swum into his thoughts. Now Simmons was making his choice impossible. Because he loved her. With every fibre of his being, boy did he love her…

How could he just leave her there to die…?

"Booster, you have to decide now." Batman had stepped forward, right on top of him again, looking him right in the eyes. To stress the point, he reached out grabbing Booster by the shoulder's, despite the fact Booster's enhanced strength was far greater. "Livewire isn't going to wait on us forever. We need to do this before its too late. And no matter what you choose here, I'm going to that facility. I will not sit back and let you sacrifice millions of lives. And quite frankly, I don't give a damn about your world. The future is _not written yet_. Right here, right now, we have a chance to make it better. I refuse to be a puppet of fate. I'm going to try to stop her. And the Justice League is coming with me. Because it's the _right thing to do_. You say you're not a bad man. Now's the time for you to prove it. Help us see what happened before, why we failed. Help us to know how to stop this!"

Booster knew the implications of what he was saying. If the League went in, without knowing how to change what happened…

"She said she saw members of the League die…" Booster breathed at him, a sudden thought crossing his mind. "She saw _Wonder Woman_ die…"

He saw the look on Batman's face. Batman clearly tried to hide it, but Booster wasn't so stupid not to see the clues, not when they were exactly what he was going for. Because, truth be told, there was actually _one_ subject from this time he knew a _little_ about. Still no expert by any means, but one hero had always meant more to him than any other. Especially as a child.

Even if the feeling felt far from reciprocated now they'd met…

The whole world had been talking of the idea of it ever since that Martian cloud had attacked Metropolis and the image of the pair of them had been projected into the sky for all to see. Most had been convinced there was nothing in it, a side effect of telepathic manipulations, but plenty still seemed lost to the mere thought. The thought of Batman and Wonder Woman… _together_.

Now Booster could see it in Batman's face, just as he'd thought he'd seen it when he walked in on the two of them together on the Watchtower. And just as per the rumours he'd heard as part of the stories he'd lived off growing up.

Booster was in a conundrum about how to save the ones he loved. And now, with Wonder Woman seemingly fated to die, Batman faced that too.

Yet he was willing to risk it all, on the off chance they could change history. He would risk Wonder Woman going in there to her death… He would risk what he loved, to do what he knew what was right.

Deep down Booster knew what was right too. The future had had its time. Perhaps somewhere, some other dimension, it may do still. Perhaps, somehow, Shel would live on. They would all live on…

Batman could risk Wonder Woman to do what was right, to save all those lives, to save _Tracy_ …

And Tracy was _his_ Wonder Woman…

And yes, if she was here, there would only be one thing Shel would be telling him. Exactly the same sort of thing she'd say as kids when they'd dress up and play as heroes from the 21st century.

She'd tell him to save the day. Just like _his_ hero.

"You don't know me very well…" Booster muttered at first, barely able to look Batman in the eye. His own were definitely moist know as the walls of emotions he was feeling began to collapse around him. His voice was soft, yet oddly calm. The weight of the world was still on his shoulders, but the weight of the choice had been lifted. "The _real_ me I mean. But, I've got to confess, I know you better than I've even let on. The future, the one this could destroy… I grew up playing superheroes, making up my own Justice League adventures with my sister Shel. We loved it. We loved all the stories. But there was only one hero I ever played as, only the one I ever really looked up to. Only the one I ever wanted to know for real, instead of live in the dream. Batman, I may have come back here from Metropolis, but I grew up in Gotham. I know you. I idolised you. I wanted to be you…only _jollier_. More than anyone, you were the hero I came back to be…Bruce."

Batman face definitely didn't hide his shock now. Booster, for his part, could only just hide that he'd got the right one. For so long as a kid he'd kept getting mixed up between which Batman was Bruce and which was Terry…

"Don't worry, I'll keep your secret. Have done ever since I came here. But the point is," he quickly went on, knowing he had to say this if he was going to give the command. He had to say it out loud. The reason why he was going to make the sacrifice he was… "Even hundreds of years from now, you inspire people. You _do_ make a difference Bruce. Ultimately, one day… And Diana… Her message does too."

Booster broke off then. Despite his need to press on, he needed a pause, to psyche himself up, to hold himself together. This time, though, Batman didn't give him the chance to just carry on.

"Because she never gives up," Batman said, pointedly not saying anything of himself. His thought process was clear; he was putting much more value on the future Diana could help shape than what he could do as well. Batman knew his value to saving the day. He never did put enough stock on the impact he was having on tomorrow… "Ever in the face of certain death. She'd never sit back and let those people die just to save herself. And there's nothing anyone could do to change that. She'd never give up on what's right…"

"And that's why you love her."

Booster interrupted him this time. Batman had been continuing to press, continuing to try to convince, despite not needing to anymore. To the extent he'd said nothing of Booster's revelation. But now… Now he was stopped in his tracks by those six simple words. Now, he didn't give a speech. Now he only gave one syllable. But one syllable that said everything.

"Yes."

"And you'll still go in anyway…" The tears were starting to pool at the base of Booster's visor. This was heart wrenching. This was the end of his dream. But this could also be the start of a new one… "You both will…Despite knowing she could die."

"Yes." Again, Batman only spoke the one syllable, but Booster could read the silent words tagged on the end. ' _But I will do everything I my power to protect her.'_

Just as he knew now that he had to do whatever it took to protect Tracy… To protect all those people… Whatever it took…

Batman had always been his hero, but since getting back here, the Caped Crusader had only scared him. Beyond the heroism, he'd seen someone completely different to who he was.

But maybe he was more like Batman than he'd ever thought…

 _Goodbye Shel._

"Skeets…" Booster said, a lump in his throat. This was it. This was the moment where the future came to an end. This was the moment when everything changed. But it had to happen. Because it was the right thing to do… Still, he had to sniff away the emotion, taking a deep breath to force himself to say the words. "Show him the footage."

Skeets had fallen silent during those final stages. He must have seen what was coming. Regardless, at first he'd tilted back as if hit by the surprise. But then he reacted. He still said nothing. He must have known how tough a call this was on Booster. But it had been Booster and Booster alone he had been protecting. Not the future, but Booster. He'd held back simply because he didn't want to hurt his friend. Now that his friend had made the call, Skeets had no reason to hold back anymore.

Tilting forwards, his holoprojector activated. In the middle of the room, the hologram appeared. The hologram showing the Fusion Plant, Livewire and all.

Beside Booster, Batman stepped forwards again, clearly coming in close to watch, to see everything he needed to see as the footage played, to learn everything they needed to know to stop the upcoming disaster. As for Booster himself, he couldn't watch, he'd turned away, unable to look. Unable to look at the moment when the future as he'd known it died. When Shel died.

Still, he couldn't help but look up as the hand rested on his shoulder. Despite everything, Batman had taken a moment to look back at him. And unless he was very much mistaken, where Booster normally only got a reaction of frustration, now he saw only compassion. What was more, in a mirroring of the aftermath of their first mission together, he spoke, only this time with much more empathy.

"When this is over, you and I are going to have a little chat."

And in that moment, Booster knew. He knew Batman. He knew what he could do.

In that moment, it was no longer the time when the future died.

It was the time when the present had a chance to live.

Even if it might be a fairly _slim_ chance…

* * *

Her head was starting to really throb. If it were solid right now, it'd be like someone was going at it with a jackhammer. But she wasn't solid. Right now, she was pure energy. Which was precisely why she had been able to sail on past every last guard and checkpoint the security tight Fusion Plant had in her way, without any of them being any the wiser.

And make it right the way through to the plants main reactor core. The place where all the magic really happened.

The place that was already up and running.

She had to be careful of course. Both not to run across a system she didn't want to run across, or to throw up any red lights for all the staff around here. She was only here for the power. Fix whatever Graves had done to her and she'd be gone. In and out, without anyone knowing, that was the plan.

A plan she was ready to crack on with.

To Livewire, it felt like she was floating in the depths of a deep pool. The energy around her was like the water, lapping around her, through every nook and cranny. Of course, it was probably nothing like that in the physical realm. It was probably the usual mix of concrete, metal, steam, turbines, whatever… But all that really mattered was her matrix. It was all about the energy.

And so Livewire released herself to it. She allowed her mind to drift, to become one with the energy all around her. Like she herself was made of water in that pool, she allowed herself to mix. More than that, she tried to force the wound left by Graves' bullet to drain, holding just enough concentration to hold herself together.

The spark went through her before she realised it. It was rare that Livewire ever felt like she was being electrocuted. That was one of those moments. The burst, the burst that had started in that poisoned shoulder… The burst that shot out into the grid of power all around her…

The burst, she suddenly realised, that felt like an overloaded version of the tingle she normally felt when taking control of devices…

Quickly Livewire set herself, pushing back her concentration. In doing so, she saw it. She saw the burst heading into the reactor controls. Even quicker, Livewire used all her ability to control the power around her to redirect that burst, finding the first meaningless system around here that she could and sending it into there.

She didn't want this place to blow, after all.

But she also didn't want to die…

She'd just have to be more careful, that was all.

* * *

"Now, I appreciate you're probably tired from all the travelling you've done today and there's still a lot for you to see, but I have to ask. What do you think of our set up so far, Dr. Simmons?"

Tracy glance over at Professor Castula Salceda, sat next to her on the small, two-person tram ferrying them around the vast area covered by the Dyson-Bodman Solar Nucleosynthesis Fusion Plant. It had be well into the afternoon that Tracy had finally reached the site by the Gulf coast. She would have been well within her rights to go straight to the hotel, to rest for the evening and not worry about work until tomorrow. Her first day wasn't technically til then anyway, after all. But she'd wanted to get going, to get all the admin and inductions out of the way today, meaning that she could hit the ground running first thing in the morning. After all, she was keen to get in there. Not only was this project immensely fascinating, it was potentially hugely significant. If they could find a way to generate such large levels of energy so efficiently, it could change the world. Not only economically, but socially. This project could well lead the world into a new age, to drive humanity to the next step forwards in its development as a species. And maybe, finally, help to make all nations equal, and lead to the end of poverty. That was Tracy's hope, her dream.

But first, they had to make sure it was safe. She had to make sure that there wasn't the unlikely flaw in the design that some act of chance far beyond their control could exploit. She had to make sure there wasn't a repeat of what happened with Dr. Brown and the black hole phenomenon.

Something she full intended on doing first thing tomorrow, just as soon as she'd found her feet.

"I'm impressed so far," she replied to Castula. It was true. From what she had seen, this place was both a technological marvel with no expense spared, no corners obviously cut. Both to deliver the energy and to do so safely. Even the tram they rode on had been designed to take away the risk of 'pilot error' from traditional cars on the site. First she'd been taken through the main reactor rooms, and now she was being shown around the much wider site. "I can't wait to really get under the skin of it all, though."

"Oh, you will, don't worry," Castula smiled at her, before his face suddenly lit up. He'd noticed something over her shoulder, something that clearly excited him. Already he was reaching for one of the trams only two controls – 'stop'. "Oh but this is good timing! You'll want to see one of these!"

As the tram slowed to a standstill, Tracy looked over, following Castula's line of sight. What she saw was certainly immediately fascinating. Slowly marching its way between two stores buildings and in their general direction, it looked like something straight out of an eighties sci-fi movie. A robotic machine, metallic, futuristic, clunking along two solid, inverted legs. A big chunky body that looked like a mix between a huge container and a Swiss army knife, it had two arm-like protrusions stuck on either side, clearly designed for heavy lifting but with the capacity to do much more if required. There was no obvious head on the thing, but at the top of its cubic body red and white lights glowed, obvious signs of photo- and sensor-receptors. Stuck out the top of its body was also a series of antennas, including receivers.

"Come on," Castula was soon waving at Tracy. She hadn't even realised he'd hopped off the now halted tram, but already he'd raced round the other side and was heading over towards that robot, gesturing excitedly for Tracy to follow him. No reason not to, she was soon wandering over after him.

"We call them the Heavy-Duty Dosimetrical Transportational Power Bots, though some have taken to nicknaming them "Eds". You know, because they look like they were lifted straight out of that film RoboCop," Castula called back over his shoulder, still pointing up at the robot. It hadn't stopped walking on whatever path it was on. Soon it was going to be walking past them practically within touching distance. "Completely remote controlled by our staff up in the control offices, they have no minds of their own, but we find them incredibly useful. Not only are they perfect for doing all of the heavy lifting, they're also perfectly suited for work in even the most high dose sections of the plant. Whether its to negate the need for any kind of crane or mechanical devices to enter the irradiated coolant systems, to enter the reactor itself to make any required adjustments. We've even had them intensely heat shielded so that they can get close to the stellar fragment if needs be. Not only does it help us to perform the day to day maintenance and utilisation, but these robots are also all the while meaning our workers can stay further away from any radioactive areas. They're an absolute godsend."

Castula had turned his back to the machine as he spoke, instead addressing Tracy directly now as he finally came to a stop to let the robot pass harmlessly by. Or that had been his plan. She'd first noticed it as Castula had been speaking. It was small, almost nothing, but the slight jerking motion from the robot had caught Tracy's eye. A jerking motion that made the droid momentarily stop, shake. That made it look almost like it was getting a new command… That made it look… _different_.

And that made it seem to change in its direction. In fact, it made those receptors spin towards _them_ …

"Err, Professor," Tracy couldn't help but interrupt Castula's glee, raising one hand up to point at the robot stomping awfully close towards them. It made the look on his face change from ecstasy to confusion. "Should it be doing that?"

Slowly, Castula turned to look. With a whirring of motors, the robot had come to a stop so close to them they were within its reach. But it didn't stay there. Leaning back on its legs, its arm began to move.

Every alarm bell in Tracy's head was suddenly ringing. An idea had jumped into her head, an idea that screamed danger. For the motion of the robot had suddenly reminded her of something. Reminded her of an animal reared on its hind legs, ready to pounce on its prey. Ready to _kill_ …And with that, her eyes opened wide.

There was no time to wait and see. There wasn't even time to shout a warning. There was only time for her to dive forward, into Castula, and use the mass of her body to knock them both to the side, clean out the way. Just in time too.

For the next second, the robots heavy duty 'arm' came crashing down to earth. Over a cubic tonne of force slamming down to the ground, right where Castula had been standing. If he'd still been there…

The portly Hispanic man scrambled to put his fallen glasses back on his face as both he and Tracy looked up from the floor. Looked up to see that robot raising its heavy arm from what was now fractured concrete beneath it. Looked up to see it spinning their way. It was a good job it wasn't particularly fast…

"Come on!" Tracy howled, heaving at Castula's arm to drag him back to his feet. Again, they made it just in time. Off balance, they barely stumbled clear as the robot swatted at them with its arm, ready to smash them away.

But it did send them both tumbling, rolling across the ground…

Again, Tracy was quickly up on her hands, looking back at it. But this time, the robot wasn't immediately coming after them again. For it had happened again. Another jerking motion, almost like another command had been received. And with it, the robot's legs folded.

It looked like it had suddenly been put to sleep…

"A _godsend_?" Tracy quickly shouted down at Castula as both raised to their feet, catching their breath. "What was that…?"

"I'm going to find out," Castula immediately told her. With that, he was waddling his way back over to their tram. Again, Tracy followed him, but every step she kept an eye glancing back over her shoulder at that robot that had just tried to kill them. When they got there, Castula reached into a glove compartment in the cabin, extracting what looked like an old-fashioned CB radio mic. "Control, this is Professor Salceda, please come in."

 _FZZZZZZZZZZZ…_

That was the only reply he got. The reply of static.

"Control, this is Salceda, do you read me?" he repeated into it, raising his voice as if it would help. But still, static was the only response. Castula could only look up at Simmons. "I don't understand it. The radios are our own system, built into our mainframes and manned at control by multiple personnel at all times. There's no reason they shouldn't answer…"

"Then what on Earth is going on?" Tracy asked the obvious question. A question which, only seconds later, became even more prevalent.

The tram was their first sign. The sound of its electric motors more specifically. Hearing it, Tracy took a step back out of reflex. Castula, though, immediately dropped the radio, lunging for the stop button. But no matter how many times he pushed it, it made no difference. The next moment, the tram was darting away from them along its tracks at its full speed. For a brief second it threatened to drag Castula off with it, but before it had gone a couple of metres he was being flung clear by the forces of it. Smashing to the ground, he seemed to roll quite some distance before coming to a stop. And immediately, though nowhere near fatally, he did look hurt.

Tracy instantly made to take a step towards him, but then she saw the rest of it too. Heard it. The lights of the buildings suddenly turning themselves on and off. The tannoys around the site crackling as if they were being activated without anyone speaking into it. Alarms triggering and shutting down almost immediately. The noises of coolant systems being flushed when they weren't scheduled to do so for a long time yet. And smoke beginning to rise from the distant cooling towers, more vehemently than before… And it wasn't just those things either.

Everything, everything linked to the mains…It was all suddenly… _malfunctioning_.

As that thought dawned on her, Tracy's hand dropped to her pocket for her phone. But as she dragged it loose, it was only to see a complete lack of reception. But she knew that shouldn't be. Unless… Unless whatever this was had spread as far as the nearest masts. Or unless there was some kind of discharge in the air above them, having effects like a thunderstorm…

Or unless it was something much, _much_ worse.

Either way, she had no means to call for help. She had no way to contact Booster.

Now Tracy really did move to Castula's side. He was groaning, but he'd managed to raise himself mostly to his feet. She only paused long enough to help him up the rest of the way.

"Come on, Professor, we have to move!" she told him urgently. His only response was to groan. Clearly whatever was hurting him was going to slow him down. But Tracy knew they couldn't afford to stay here. She knew she'd have to drag him out of there if it came to it.

Because she knew. She knew. _Something_ was happening here. Something very bad. And considering what this Plant could do, they had to try and stop it.

But first, they had to make it from this spot alive.

For as she was wrapping Castula's arm over her shoulder and over all the rest of the commotion suddenly raging around them, she also heard that whirring of motors all over again. Exactly as mere moments before. She couldn't help but glance over her shoulder, but she only saw what she knew she would see.

That robot that had shut down, the one that had just tried to kill them. It was active again.

Its sensors were directing straight at them again.

And again, it was starting to move their way…

"We have to move now!"

* * *

"Something's happening down there!"

The shout came in from Steel, but Diana was already stood looming over his shoulder. She was already watching closely as it was. Beside her, Superman was doing the exact same thing.

They could both see it was definitely… _something_. And while they hadn't a clue what was going on down there, they were certain of one thing. Lives were in danger, and they were both just standing there. They were _all_ just standing there.

Superman's eyes turned on her, as hers did likewise. They knew each other well other to know they were both thinking the same thing; they couldn't continue to just stand back and wait. They had to do something.

Batman had run out of time.

Knowing she had to make the call, Superman stood still as Diana took a step away from Steel's chair, giving herself a bit of space. As soon as she moved, her finger went up to her ear, ready to make the call. However, in a moment of perfect timing, one was coming in before she could transmit one out.

"Batman to Wonder Woman. Tell me you're still there."

"We're here Batman," she responded, unable to hide the note of surprise. But she also didn't hide any of the determination, the urgency. Superman's eyes were definitely on her now at the sound of that. Even Steel had turned to look at her too. They all knew what this meant. "But that Fusion Plant is in trouble…"

"I know," came Batman's growled return, the tell-tale sign that his head was already in the fight. "Diana, I know what we have to do. But we'll have to act fast. I need Steel on hand on the Watchtower. All other available hands need to get to the Gulf, now. I'll brief you on the details when you get there. Protect the civilians, but don't go in. Booster and I are on our way. And stay safe."

The comm clicked off then, but truth be told, Diana expected nothing other than that abruptness. If anything, the situation called precisely for it. It was those last three words that had caught her out. Even for her, Batman didn't normally feel the need to say such things on the verge of action. He trusted her to look after herself, a high honour but one she was hers. The fact that he'd said them now…

Something bad was definitely happening. And Batman knew just how bad it could be...

But there was no time to worry. The only thing they had to focus on was the people down there, the people in danger. The only concern was how to help them survive. It only took her a moment to overcome that personal surprise and look up at Superman, ready to give the word.

"We're going in."

But whether they'd come back out again was another story…


	5. 4, Part 1: Thunderstruck

_**A/N:**_

* * *

 _ **I didn't forget! Haha I'm sure you're all DELIGHTED to hear that! The official days may be done and dusted, but as far as I'm concerned, #WonderBatMilestones is still a thing! And here it is, my Day 4.**_

 _ **Well the first part anyway. You see, this one's a bit big, and I'm a bit busy to get it put together too quickly at the mo. So I've decided to treat(?) you all, and release it piece by piece... Even if this first piece is itself well over 3,000 words long, this is just the start of Day 4!**_

 _ **Will do me best not to leave you waiting too long for the next bit of it!**_

 _ **And I'll see you on the other side!**_

* * *

 **4.1: Thunderstruck**

The clang of metal on metal took over from the noise of the rocket motors as they cut out, dropping Steel back down to the deck. But his momentum didn't halt, didn't even slow. Now he was running instead of flying, taking the final steps to allow him to slam the panel to open up the door.

The red alert sirens were erupting all around him. On the other decks, the evacuation was in process, all staff and non-essential heroes ordered to get clear of the space station. A floating tin can hovering in the vacuum of space, it simply wasn't wise to keep them up here and put them at risk. Not with what they were planning on bringing up there to take their place. But Steel, he was essential. And what was more, he'd volunteered.

The door whooshed open to show him one of the Watchtower's many laboratories and science facilities. The lights activated as Steel hurriedly stepped inside, illuminating both the solitude and the arrays of machinery and equipment within. Yet Steel's gaze skipped completely over the vast majority. Only one thing in the teeming room really caught his eye.

The Faraday cage.

The Faraday cage within a sealable chamber.

A chamber that he could flood with ionised gas.

Batman had sent Steel the scans of the bullet he'd recovered at Graves' site. He'd told them of the dangers of what was happening to Livewire. He'd given Steel the tools to find a way to counteract it. With that cage, with that gas. He could do exactly that. He could save Livewire, and in doing so, save millions.

If only they could get her away from that Fusion plant…

"Right then," Steel muttered to himself as his eyes settled on the control panel, setting such thoughts from his mind. This was what he had to do, to get the gas ready, the chamber prepped. There was nothing he could do to help down right now.

That was in the hands of the others.

* * *

The hum in the air filled her ears the instant she began to form. Static energy hung to every breath of wind. Even before fully materialised from the transporter, she could tell. As resistant as she was, even Wonder Woman's skin was starting to stand on end.

The others were emerging all around her too. Superman, Green Lantern, Captain Atom and the rest. Everyone they could spare. Forming in the same circle on which they'd stood on the transporter pad up on the Watchtower. And all of them reacting the exact same way. They had known it would be bad, both from the visual scans and everything Batman had told them. But seeing it was something else. Something that meant, in that first instant, there was nothing any of them could do but stop and stare.

The core of the Fusion plant, the place were they held the stellar fragment, was only a few hundred metres away. The building itself was largely indistinguishable. The huge electronically charged clouds forming from all the cooling towers around it were not. Black as night itself but sparking with bristling, unfulfilled energy, they were building from the towers, filling the sky, blocking out the sun. But most of all they were a sign. A sign that something in that station was creating far too much power. A sign of a ferocity soon to be unleashed. Thunderbolts and lightning; very, very frightening. And that was the _least_ of their worries…

There was no way that energy build up could last… No way the power core could take it, even with the discharges into the sky. And there was only one other alternative.

 _Boom_.

But the sky wasn't the only discharge. Only as the group of heroes began to come to terms with their surroundings did they begin to see it. The chaos. The madness. The ironic powerlessness.

The site of the Solar Nucleosynthesis Fusion Plant was vast, buildings everywhere and so populated it may as well have been a small town. Including by all manner of technology. Technology all linked to that central power grid. The same power grid Livewire was right now corrupting with her disintegrating matrix.

Before their eyes, each one of the League saw as the entire site went haywire. Both in ways that were harmless…and other ways too. Just as Batman had warned them of.

Almost as if to emphasise the point, a huge distant crash ripped through the air at that exact moment. Wonder Woman had barely even begun to turn her head to see what it was when they heard the screams. This one she did see. A distant monorail car, stuffed with workers apparently trying to evacuate the site, accelerated beyond all control. Accelerated to the point a fatal crash was inevitable. And that was just a start.

Before anyone else could react, Superman was already a blur chasing after the monorail with intense speed, not even bothering to call back. The rest of the League didn't need much directing either.

"I'll help gather people up to get them clear!" GL called, his glow intensifying as he took to the sky, a platform already forming by his ring as he prepared to scoop people beyond the threshold of Livewire's attacks. Dr. Light was next to him, as was Stargirl, both preparing to do the same. It was a valiant act, though deep down Wonder Woman knew, if this place blew, there wouldn't be anywhere truly far enough away. "Diana, you and the others have got to keep them alive long enough for us to get to everyone!"

"You can count on it."

GL and the rest were already flying away towards one of the nearby buildings, the one with the most screams, before Diana's muttered reply sounded. But the others around her momentarily stood still and looked to her to lead. She didn't hesitate to do what was necessary.

"Spread out," she commanded, looking out at them all. "We've a lot of ground to cover and not a lot of time. Batman's coming to try to stop what's happening inside that facility, we have to buy them time. Vigilante, Shining night, take the office structures to the West. Elongated Man, Wildcat, the secondary turbines to the North. Ice, do whatever you can to keep the coolant to the reactors as useful as we can. Tornado, do what you can about the cloud before the lightning strikes start too. The rest of you, head for the screams. Now move!"

None of them waited around any more than that. With those words alone, the troupe of heroes ran, flew, anything to get them where they needed to be in the chaos. Only one other remained, but as Diana glanced his way, he too had already started to hover.

"You don't need to tell me _once_ ," Captain Atom responded in his southern drawl. "I can feel it in the air, alongside the static. I'll do what I can to absorb every last drop of radiation that's leaking from that stellar fragment into the atmosphere. But if that thing gets _really_ exposed…"

 _There's not much even you can do against the strength of the Sun_. He didn't finish his sentence but Wonder Woman knew how it would go. The same way this would all go if the Fusion plant couldn't be brought back under control. Everything hinged on it. _Everything_.

"Just buy them time!" Wonder Woman called after him as Captain Atom continued to drift away, beginning to fly off towards the source of those thunder clouds, the tips of hands already starting to glow blue with energy.

But it wasn't the only thing doing so. The rumble of thunder made Diana look straight to the sky. The lightning rippling within the clouds looked intense, ready to become deadly. Ready to emphasise just how little time they had…

"Hera, Bruce, where are you…?" Diana breathed at the sight. He had made her promise to stay out of the building. Ordered that none of them go after Livewire but he and Booster. Had instructed that it was the only way. It was a good job she trusted him…

But others, they were much more foolish. She barely heard it over the rumble in the air up above, but the whine of motors and the shredding of air soon reach her ears. It took only a moment of scanning the artificial horizons to spot the source.

A group of people, a mix between scientists, engineers and admin staff from the looks of them, all acting out of pure fear. All having lost sense of logic and reason. They were desperate to get away. Too desperate.

The helicopter had been viewed as their salvation. Its speed, its movement, it could get them clear, away from the chaos, away from the malfunctions, above the ground and beneath the lightning. Away from power core. Away from the blast. But they were reckoning without Livewire.

The first hint came out of her eye corners, making her momentarily glance to one side, then the other. The merest of motions, by the most harmless of things. Her hair. Small strands of her elegant hair, suddenly standing up on their own… As realisation dawned on her, her eyes quickly shot back ahead, mouth dropping slightly, aghast.

Diana had felt the static in the air as soon as they arrived. Now, looking at the helicopter, she could _see_ it. Tiny sparks, erupting like small firecrackers across its surface. Starting with the rotors. But it was worse than just an electrical discharge, she realised that straight away. Batman had warned them that Livewire's corrupted influence had sent all the electronics linked to her via the mains haywire. But with all the static increasingly in the air, her influence was less and less limited to the mains.

Her influence had reached the helicopter too.

The influence that made them lose control of all machines…

Affecting a device which, out of control, was nothing short of a death trap.

"Stop!"

Her call was as loud as she could make it, but she was too late. Simply by powering up the rotors, the damage was done. Wonder Woman was already moving, already racing towards the craft. Within it, she could even so its passengers one by one look up, spot her, the mix of jubilation and shock on their faces. She could see as the would-be pilot's hands moved away from the stick, the lift off procedure halted.

And the next second, she also saw that it was all for nothing. For in that moment those sparks burst around the craft even larger than before. For a moment, it was like energy itself had formed a shell around the whole helicopter, zapping into every pore, every crevice. Every element of controls. The only relief was that it didn't seem to tear into the people too. But 'only' was the operative word.

For before anyone could do anything, under the whim only of the corrupt power, the helicopter did take off. But it wasn't escaping. It was only going _up_.

Up towards the lightning, the storm. The peril.

There was no need to think about it. Instinctively, Wonder Woman shot up into the air after it. Closer and closer, on the verge of that dark mass of sparking, deadly power…

The bolt struck almost as if it was targeting her. The thundercrack was booming as the lightning bolt shot from the static cloud. At incredible speed, Wonder Woman only just through up her crossed bracelets before her in time before it hit. Hands angled, she deflected the bolt away from her, out as far away from the core of the Fusion plant as she could as the bolt sought to earth itself. It didn't stop her from feeling the flash of heat burning through her wrists though.

But nor did it stop her charge, her mission. Gritting her teeth more than ever, Wonder Woman yelled as she pushed herself to the maximum, and beyond.

The helicopter's rotors were almost at that cloud… Almost touching… Almost touching the energy that would tear them apart.

The people inside were screaming, scrambling, _trapped_. They knew. They _knew_. And she was there only chance. That craft would never survive the blast she'd just took…

And up above, rumbling, rippling with power, the thunderclouds were definitely on the verge of another eruption.

It happened almost all at once. Rotors touched the base of the cloud in the same moment that Wonder Woman's body rammed the helicopter. Arms outstretched, she hit it as hard as she dared, throwing every bit of horizontal momentum she could into it.

But she couldn't help but scream. In a way, she was too late. In simply it touching the thundercloud, she had been too late. The electrical power, the conductivity of the helicopter's surface, it was enough. It was enough to immediately stall the rotors, especially considering their controller. And it was enough to send all that power rippling across that surface and straight into Wonder Woman's exposed flesh…

In that moment, it was crippling. Her muscles spasmed as the electricity forced them to contract, her hands burning, skin shredding and blistering instantly. Her eyes forced shut as her head was thrown back by the pain. And, perhaps most threateningly of all, her ability to control her flight waned.

She began to fall. Like a stone.

It was a good job she'd been granted such extensive endurance. Any lesser being might have been dead before they hit the ground. But not Wonder Woman. She'd barely fallen half of the distance before she'd beaten the pain, forcing it from her, determination washing it away. Shaking her head to regain control of her functions, Diana threw back her limbs, halting her fall. Quickly, she got back to scanning the skies, to seeing what had happened to the helicopter. She'd taken that hit to save the people aboard it. She wasn't going to back down now.

Soon she spotted it. The good news was it was no longer climbing. In that sense, Wonder Woman had actually reached it just in time. The bad news was it too was now beginning to fall. It seemed the force of her impact, the angle of the momentum, had slowed its trajectory, leaving it caught in a spiral. But it was still falling. Before her eyes, Wonder Woman watched as it tumbled beyond where she now hung in the air.

Down towards the very solid ground far below…

Once again, Diana raced after it. Once again, she put in every bit of effort she had. It felt like forever, but soon she was practically on top of it, shredded hands stretched out so close they could practically touch it. Still, it felt like the fates were toying with her, as for several moments every time she stretch the helicopters struts just twisted away from her grasp.

When her hands finally touched the metal, it was a blessed relief. It hurt like hell, but Diana didn't are. She merely latched on with everything she had, fingers digging in so tight she could feel the metal crush beneath her grasp. It groaned even more as she began to heave, thrusting herself back to slow the momentum as much as she possibly could. Her teeth were ground, her muscles taught, her howl desperate. The ground was getting closer and closer to her eyes…

The sudden jerking was such a blessed relief it almost caught her off guard. In that first split second, it almost fooled her into thinking that the worst had come. That this was the end for those people inside. That the damning ground had swallowed them up and taken them to what lay beyond. Only in the next moment did she realise, she was still airborne. Only the next moment did she realise that they had stopped, literally just a foot above the ground.

The sigh of relief burst from her before she knew it before slowly, carefully, she set the remnants of the aircraft down as gently as she could. _Now_ she really felt the pain in her hands, just another reason why she felt so thankful to be able to release the helicopter shell from her grasp. But no means the most important.

Once the craft was down, Diana was too. Landing softly beside it, she didn't wait around before opening up the doors. That was the best moment of relief of them all. Because as soon as she did so, it was to be greeted by a full set of still eyes staring up at her, every last one of them shaken, but most definitely alive.

She'd done it. She'd saved them.

"W…Wonder Woman…?" one of the scientists breathed her amazement at the sight of Diana stood before them. She was clearly in shock. Physically alright, but majorly shaken up by the experience. The silence of the others showed she wasn't alone in that either. And not just due to the near crash. As if to emphasise the point, a loud rumble erupted over the threatened Fusion core in exactly that moment.

"We can't stay here!" Almost as if that had been his queue, one of the other engineers found their tongue. His tone was panicked. He didn't have to say it to show he knew the danger here, the ultimate danger. The power core with the force to wipe out millions of lives… The engineer was desperately pointing out towards it as if Diana didn't already know, but in doing so, gave her cause to look out there again. "Something's happened in there, something that's got in the system! We can't stop it!"

"No," Diana muttered in agreement, knowing he was right. But she also knew something else, a point emphasised in that precise moment. She had sworn that neither she nor the League would go into that core lest risk Livewire's wrath and repeating fate. She wouldn't be the one to stop it. In that the engineer was right. But it didn't mean _no-one_ could.

And in that moment, she saw them. They'd arrived. Racing in across the skyline under the power of the suit from the future, Skeets the droid zooming alongside. Heading straight in towards the core. Booster Gold. And _Bruce_.

They hadn't lost hope. Until the moment that core blew, they never would. They were the Justice League. No matter how long the odds, no matter how much their chances were nothing but a dream, they wouldn't stop believing. They wouldn't abandon the good fight, the people who needed them. They would always dare to dream, to hope.

And with Batman going in, Wonder Woman knew better than most that hope was not lost. They still had time to conquer fate.

With precisely that in mind, she turned back to face the engineer and his colleagues beside him. And she even did so with a warm smile on her face, one of confidence. A confidence she wanted to inspire and share. "Stay here. The Justice League will get you clear. I need to go back into the plant and protect the others. But do not give in. We have a plan.

"No matter how bleak it looks, this isn't over."


End file.
